 Bemidji schools still need five literacy tutors for the school year to help build students reading skills. Tutors range from recent college graduates to retirees. Haiti Clotter tells us more. After retirement, some people think about how they'll spend their time. Elsa Snida decided to spend her retirement helping young students become stronger readers as a tutor with the Minnesota Reading Corps. They are just like sponges, they just take it all in and it's so exciting to see them grow and learn to read and be fluent and they comprehend what they're reading. The goal for Minnesota Reading and Math Corps is to ensure all students are up to grade level in reading by the end of third grade and proficient in algebra by the end of eighth grade. Here in Bemidji, we are in every single elementary school and then we have Math Corps at our Bemidji Middle School. So we place about 10 to 11 reading and Math Corps tutors every year in the Bemidji School District. Snida currently works at Horace May Elementary in Bemidji and is in her fifth year of service with Reading Corps. She says she never set out a goal to log nearly 5,000 national community service hours but it just happened. Her dedication hasn't gone unnoticed. I got a nice letter from the president Barack Obama and I got a beautiful pin that I wear on my coat. Took me by surprise. I was quite a surprise. I never realized. It's so easy to get those hours. Born in Argentina, Snida knows the troubles one can have with learning a new language. When I came they didn't have English learning classes. You just sat in your class and you learned that way. It was through Reading Corps where Snida crossed paths with Brady Kirkpatrick who was a reading tutor at the time. Kirkpatrick's daughter Chloe was having her own struggles. The thing still with my daughter is she doesn't want to bring her homework home. She wants to do her homework at school. With the help from Snida Kirkpatrick has seen a complete turnaround in Chloe's reading. Chloe loves Elsa and my family is very appreciative of what she did for Chloe and built her self-esteem and she is an avid reader now. She's nowhere without three books. Across the state Minnesota Reading and Math Corps tutors work with about 30,000 students a year. On the elementary level tutors work with students for 20 minutes at every meeting. A little reading can go a long way. In Bemidji, Haiti Clotter, Lakeland News. Tutors are placed throughout the year and applications for the 2018-2019 school year will open in December for more information on Minnesota Reading and Math Corps and how you can get involved. You can visit our website at lptv.org. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.