It all started with a conversation between RSVP and Milwaukee Recreation to revive the 55+ Tutor Program for Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). Tightened budgets had caused the program to whither with no dedicated staff time to support volunteer recruitment or coordination. Seeing an opportunity to transform how the district views volunteers, RSVP turned to one of its members, a retired MPS principal to test out a new idea. The idea was simple: let the volunteers lead the way.

This retired MPS principal took on the role of volunteer coordinator at the school where she once worked. It was not easy, but through the course of a semester she began to figure out how to strike the balance between the school's needs and the volunteer's needs. Throughout the process, RSVP staff met with key stakeholders to begin crafting a program model to implement as the new 55+ Tutor Program.

The result was a truly volunteer driven program where RSVP members serve in one of three roles: Tutor, Master Tutor or Facilitator. The majority of RSVP members would serve directly with students as tutors during the schools' literacy blocks. Master Tutors would then provide on-site support, shadowing, and group trainings while Facilitators act as the liaison at the schools and recruiters in the community.

With the program model set, RSVP turned to partner with MPS. It turned out that MPS was looking to build a volunteer program to support its new Comprehensive Literacy Plan. Over the years de-centralization of school administration had left MPS with more than a dozen different literacy curricula. The higher than average mobility rate in the district meant students were having to adapt to different ways of learning as they transferred schools. In order to minimize this, a standardized literacy curriculum was implemented, called the Comprehensive Literacy Plan. The 55+ Tutor Program was used as the vehicle to support this plan, leading to further standardization in volunteer coordination.

What is truly remarkable, is how the 55+ Tutor Program has also filled the role of setting the standard for volunteer engagement in Milwaukee Public Schools. In late 2010, a local foundation tasked RSVP with researching program models that utilized older adults as volunteers in school settings. The results of the project revealed the strengths of RSVP's 55+ Tutor Program model. RSVP is now working with the foundation to collaborate with other school districts and organizations to boost the quality of volunteer coordination in school districts across the County. In addition, Milwaukee Public Schools has selected RSVP for their Six Sigma process. MPS it utilizing this process to identify RSVP's best practices in volunteer coordination and apply the practices district wide.

The result of all these efforts has clearly been a resounding success. The revived 55+ Tutor Program, which was officially launched in January of 2011, brought 50 new volunteers to Milwaukee Public Schools. The goal is to grow the program to 150 volunteer tutors serving over 500 students by Fall 2011.