A literacy mentoring program that worked with Martin County children for six years is returning after a funding pause. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County says AmeriCorps members will provide individualized and small-group reading support to kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students at four Club locations during after-school programming. WPTV/WFLX reported the return on Oct. 15 after speaking with club and school leaders.
The station reported that the Clubs introduced the federal mentorship program locally in 2019. Volunteers worked with thousands of children over six years before federal funding shortfalls forced the program to pause. The organization’s current public program page describes hands-on literacy support for K–5 students at four locations. Neither the station nor the Club page gives a precise first day for the renewed service year, so Oct. 15 is the date of the public report, not a claimed start date.
At the four sites, AmeriCorps members are expected to work with students one-on-one and in small groups, with literacy as the focus. The Club says the support takes place during its existing after-school programming and aims to strengthen reading and language-arts skills. Volunteer Florida’s grantee directory also lists Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County as an AmeriCorps program providing English Language Arts support to students performing below grade level. The directory describes the program’s purpose; it does not report results for the returning year.
Program director Russell Lamberti told WPTV that leaders hope to serve 575 students. He also described a goal of 65% growth in vocabulary, fluency and grammar. These are targets for the returning program, not results already achieved. The station did not report a measurement plan or say how progress will be evaluated, so the figures should be read as the organization’s stated goals.
There is a longer local history behind the restart. On its “Our Approach” page, the Club says an AmeriCorps grant received in 2018 supported mentoring and intervention in Martin County middle schools. The organization says the program expanded during the 2019–20 school year to provide targeted literacy intervention to K–5 students at five elementary schools. WPTV dates the local introduction to 2019; the two accounts describe the early program from different points in its development.
WPTV also reported earlier outcomes attributed to the Club. In some cases, the organization said, as many as eight in 10 participating students moved from reading Level 1 to Level 4; about the same share maintained or improved English Language Arts grades. The report did not provide the number of students in those groups or an evaluation method. Those figures refer to the previous six-year run and are organization-reported, not independently established results for the returning program.
The Clubs also told WPTV that members in the earlier run completed nearly 50 service projects and contributed more than 60,000 hours to community cleanup efforts and other service. Those numbers describe past volunteer service, not reading outcomes, and are separate from the new-year goals.
The pause was felt by local school leaders. Superintendent Michael Maine told WPTV that the district missed the program and viewed it as an important part of helping schools move forward. That is the superintendent’s assessment, not a measured claim about student test scores. His comment shows why the partnership mattered to the district as it supported young readers outside the school day.
The work also has a personal connection for AmeriCorps Volunteer Experience Specialist Abelard Cesar. He told WPTV that he learned English at 13 and had mentors who helped him grow. Cesar’s account explains why mentoring matters to him; the report did not say he would be assigned to a particular student or location.
For now, the confirmed plan is a return to K–5 literacy support at four Club locations, delivered through one-on-one and small-group help after school. The 575-student reach and 65% language-skill growth figures remain goals. The next useful update will be evidence about how many students are served and what the program reports after the new year is underway.
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