A legislative visit was held at West Elementary in Knoxville Thursday which focused on the United Way of Iowa’s Iowa Reading Corps AmeriCorps Program.

Senator Amy Sinclair took part in the visit to gave her a better understanding of the program with the hope of extending it to more districts across the state. Crystal Meier, Director of National Service Programs for the United Way of Iowa tells KNIA/KRLS News the purpose of the program is for students who are below their grade level target growth rate for literacy and give them a chance to improve and succeed by placing an AmeriCorps tutor in the classroom with the student. During the visit Senator Sinclair was able to listen to reading improvements students in Knoxville and advances and about the reading gains they have made with having the tutors in the classroom. During the 2016-2017 school year 73 tutors served 1,631 students at 61 sites across Iowa which gave student smore than 70 minutes of one on one tutoring per week.