Do you read the newspaper? Can you fill out forms and applications? Can you write a check? For many adults in Holyoke such daily tasks are out of reach. These adults may have left school at an early age or without learning basic skills. Or they may have come to Holyoke with a dream of economic opportunity, but are unable to speak, read or write in English. Many such people enroll in adult education classes, and are striving to fulfill their dreams and better their employment opportunities. 

The Holyoke Tutor/Mentor Program was established in 1991 to supplement existing adult education programs in Holyoke. We recruit, train and support a pool of tutors who work with learners already studying English as a Second Language (ESL), Adult Basic Education (ABE), and Adult Secondary Education (ASE). 

A wide variety of people volunteer with us. They come mostly from Holyoke, but also from Chicopee, South Hadley, Northampton and other area towns. They range in age from young adults to our most senior citizens. They are self-employed, retirees, students, teachers, homemakers, and more. Each tutor has a niche of time to share each week, believes change comes through education, and enjoys working with people and learning about other cultures. 

After training, we ask that tutor/mentors volunteer once a week for at least an hour at a time. The length of commitment is as flexible as it needs to be to accommodate the changing lives of tutor/mentors. We do ask, however, that tutor/mentors try to make a six-month commitment to the program. 

Students often bring something they are already working on to sessions, or the student and tutor work together to develop lessons. 

To be literate means to be able to fulfill your goals as a family and community member, citizen and worker. To be literate means being able to get information and use it to improve your life, being able to use reading and writing to do the things you decide to do.