With school back in session, so is Reach to Teach.

The youth center, founded by Ayanna Shivers and with Ed Williams its president of the board of directors, gets back into gear beginning 5-7 p.m.

Monday and will continue to do so weekly as well as Thursdays in conjunction with the Mexico School District No. 59 calendar through May 16.

“We provide free tutoring for K-12 students in Mexico and the surrounding areas,” Shivers said. “In addition to tutoring, some students come to access the wi-fi and have a quiet study space.

“Last year we also invested in Reading from A-Z as a resource to help students with literacy.”

Any student is welcomed to attend, and parents/guardian must register their child by providing contact information.

“We also ask that after registering that parents of younger students - elementary age - walk them in before dropping them off for safety reasons,” Shivers said. “Also, please send the student with assignments.”

This is the fifth year of the program that Anointed Life Saving Ministries, Inc. originally started with the intent to target middle/high school students who were unable to access after-school tutoring because of extracurricular activities, according to Shivers.

“However, we soon realized that elementary students were also needing help during those hours, and we opened the program to serve K-12,” Shivers said.

“This year, we changed the hours to better serve the needs of our community.
The certified teachers are Greg Jackson, the director of the program, and Linda Schaefer, the assistant director.

“We are looking for teachers - in-service and retired - to volunteer and A-plus students,” Shivers said.

For more information about the program contact Jackson at 816.372.5575.