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SALISBURY, MD---The May Literacy Center at ºÚÁÏÍø has pivoted through the COVID-19 pandemic to continue assisting young readers as part of the Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education.

After offering tutoring virtually over the summer, the center provides in-person and virtual tutoring this fall for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, beginning Monday, September 28.

Some 98 percent of recent students being tutored came from socioeconomically disadvantaged homes, Dr. Brian Flores, the center’s director, stressed the importance of making in-person tutoring available for those who may not have the technological needs to participate virtually.

He and Dr. Laurie Henry, Dean of the Seidel School, worked to find physical space to allow up to 25 face-to-face students, while following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines on physical distancing.

As many as 40 additional students will be tutored online, increasing on the numbers from previous semesters. The University also offers bilingual tutors, who work closely with students learning English as a second language.

The tutoring is offered as part of a class for SU education students, who earn course credit while assisting the elementary and middle school students. Flores and William Tignor teach the in-person class for SU students, while Dr. Amber Meyer teaches the virtual course. The youth are paired one-on-one with the same SU tutor throughout the 10-week program.

This fall, Flores also has worked with the SU School of Social Work to have an intern available to assist the young students’ families with additional resources to provide more successful educational environments once the tutoring ends.

Now in his third year with the May Literacy Center, Flores hopes to continue to grow the center and tutoring program to offer more opportunities to both SU students and those in the community.

Parents interested in applying for their children to participate in the program may do so .

For more information call 410-546-4378 or visit the May Literacy Center website.