Thirty-seven calls offering to help. Check that, not offering, committing to help. Not bad.

In Wednesday’s Press Democrat there appeared a story I wrote about the Schools of Hope program in which the United Way and Volunteer Center of Sonoma County are teaming up to provide more than 250 tutors to six participating schools.

The goal? Team a tutor with one first grader who is struggling to read. The larger goal? Get kids who are struggling with their reading skills back on track before frustration and failure sets in, leading them to drop out of school.

After the story ran, volunteer coordinator Barbara Fisher said she fielded 22 calls before the day was out Thursday and Friday morning those calls were still coming in. By the close of day Friday, 39 people had called and all but two had committed to attending the training, she said.

Tutors are asked to commit to one hour a week (30 minutes with the student, 30 minutes of transportation time) for the entire school year. Participating schools (RL Stevens, Yulupa, Taylor Mountain, Roseland, Spring Creek and Brook Hill) will work with tutors’ schedules to find a regular time that works for both the school and the tutor.

Interested? Call Barbara Fisher at the Volunteer Center at 573-3399 X 122.

Tutors are required to go through a two-hour training and work with students begins immediately.

Read more about the program here: http://bit.ly/aG3Ljg