Experience Corps Benefits Seniors, Students BALTIMORE, MD (wypr) - We have a special person who will be sharing some stories with you. His name is Mr. Erv, so you're going to say, good morning, Mr. Erv.' Good morning, Mr. Erv.'

Dressed in uniforms, the second-graders sat down in the library of Cross Country Elementary/Middle School in Northwest Baltimore. They put their listening ears on and zipped their lips. Seventy-one-year-old Erwin Sekulow -- Mr. Erv -- read a book called L is for Library.

E is for encyclopedia. Encyclopedia, who can say that word? Encyclopedia

Mr. Sekulow is a volunteer for Experience Corps, a nationwide program that promotes mental health for those 60-years and older through volunteering to work with young schoolchildren. Mr. Erv reads to students at Cross Country about five hours-a-day, three-to-four-days-a-week.

I just find that that provides me the most satisfaction. And I think the children enjoy it a lot also because in most of these, with most of these youngsters, they don't have an experience where someone reads to them at home. And I think that this is a nice change of pace for them.

Civic Ventures, a San Francisco-based organization that works to solve social problems, created Experience Corps 10 years ago, specifically to utilize the gifts and talents of retirees, who wanted to remain active.

With seniors living longer and healthier lives, Johns Hopkins researchers, who work with Experience Corps in Baltimore, said many are eager to volunteer to help create more positive learning environments in urban schools.



Back at Cross Country, 61-year-old Joyce Barnes is an Experience Corps volunteer. She works in a kindergarten classroom with teacher Shelley Wolff.

The little help I give them, other than Ms. Wolff being the teacher, they don't get it. But sometimes it's not all about learning. They like the love that they get, they like the little perks I give them. The hugs, smile. They like for me to say, c'mon, love (laugh).'

Sometimes, Ms. Barnes, a large, pleasand woman, said she works more than the required 15 hours. She also said she spends some of her two-hundred dollar monthly stipend on the kids.

Ms. Wolff said Ms. Barnes, does everything, from filing paperwork to helping kids catch up in class.

She basically does a lot of things with working with the children one-to-one for me 01:58 sometimes, when you have someone helping you, it's more work. Because you have to get activities for them, But with Ms. Barnes, I don't have to anymore, she just walks in here. I'm back, go forth and she know where everything is. So, she's a great help for me.

Experience Corps volunteers go through rigorous training and testing to qualify for this program. They must be able to read and pass a criminal background check.

The program operates in 23 cities across the country, including Philadelphia, San Francisco and Boston. Overall, Experience Corps employs 2-thousand volunteers, who work with 20-thousand students. In Baltimore, nearly 400 volunteers work with 5,000 students in about 20 schools. The program here receives additional funding from state and local governments, private foundations and individual donors.

That's money well-spent, according to Christopher, a second-grader at Cross Country. He said he likes having the seniors in the classroom.

Sometimes, I get in trouble .02:12 Track 95 0:19 I need help with my left and right and I need help, so I can stop getting in trouble.

Cross Country Principal Matthew Riley said Experience Corps has done a lot for his students.

I think it helps to develop a caring culture of young people, for older adults. 01:09 01:20 This allows children to see that you know older people have a lot to offer. There's a lot of wisdom there, there's a lot of understanding. There's a lot of love there. 01:33 02:25 when we have the elderly coming together with children and teachers, 02:30 02:32 It's a good mixture and it's a powerful learning tool for children.



And so far, that seems to be a good match. School administrators say students are doing better in class. And about 80-percent of the senior volunteers, according to Experience Corps, return to the classrooms every year.

I'm Farrah Childs, reporting in Northwest Baltimore, for 88-1, WYPR.
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