Literacy, fairies and ... tamales? Nonprofit guides Santa Fe kids' reading through filmmaking
By André Salkin | July 16 2026
Julian Treto, left, gets his close-up while Joseph Rodriguez and Ry Mohon, right, practice sword fighting as kids participate Thursday in the Reading is Magic Camp movie — titled The Kingdom of the Magic Chicken Tamale Eating Dragons — at the Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences. Over 20 kids grades 3-5 created characters and helped write the original screenplay to be shot in a day by Native American filmmaker Orlando Skidmore.
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It’s a faux pas on almost any set: Stage lights shining, cameras rolling and actors reading from their scripts.
But for the royal court of the Kingdom of the Magical Chicken Tamale Eating Dragons, reading — not memorization — is the whole point. Dressed as jesters, knights, fairies, dragons and more, students from local schools peer under helmets and through masks to read their lines during a Reading is Magic summer literacy camp from nonprofit Reading Quest, now in its 15th year at Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences. The young thespians prepare everything themselves, from theme to wardrobe to casting, each an exercise in exercise in reading ability, self-confidence and public speaking. Renatta López, 14, a volunteer headed to Capital High School next year, remembers what it was like being a 9-year-old in front of the cameras. She suffered her first panic attack before her first production while at home preparing her lines. “It was really scary because I was a really shy kid,” she said. “And I didn’t really have a voice.” |
Orlando Skidmore starts the first take of the final scene with a snap while kids participate Thursday in the Reading is Magic Camp movie at the Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences.
Jim Weber/The New Mexican |
But she looked herself in the mirror, told herself she could do it, and she did.
Her voice grew louder and more confident over the five years she attended the camp as she performed in more productions and picked up more strategies for dealing with her dyslexia through Reading Quest. The organization runs the camps along with instruction at its Camino de los Marquez center and in schools across the region during the school year.
Renatta’s own challenges help her connect with the students now: “Watching these kids struggle, I’m like, ‘Wait, I think they’re having the same problem,’ ” she said.
By the end of her time with the group, she had changed. She raised her hand more in school and stopped dreading presentations.
“I just found a lot of courage,” she said. “That helps you do so many things.”
Her voice grew louder and more confident over the five years she attended the camp as she performed in more productions and picked up more strategies for dealing with her dyslexia through Reading Quest. The organization runs the camps along with instruction at its Camino de los Marquez center and in schools across the region during the school year.
Renatta’s own challenges help her connect with the students now: “Watching these kids struggle, I’m like, ‘Wait, I think they’re having the same problem,’ ” she said.
By the end of her time with the group, she had changed. She raised her hand more in school and stopped dreading presentations.
“I just found a lot of courage,” she said. “That helps you do so many things.”
Kids in the lead
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The production changes every year as students take ownership. This time, they settled on chicken tamales and dragons — which became a plot involving a heist of the kingdom’s tamale supply, with nearly every group involved, from unicorns to blacksmiths to chefs, playing some role in the theft
The crew behind the camera, though, has stayed the same for years, including Orlando Skidmore (White Mountain Apache) who also edits the footage, adding special effects that bring the fairies, dragons and tamales to life. A big part of the job is steering kids away from expensive cameras and around cables. No matter, Skidmore says the production is a dream gig because he watches kids who return year after year grow into stronger readers, sometimes becoming mentors to younger campers. Reading at the core“B-O-O-M,” Rayna Dineen spelled out for the kids, pointing to the directional microphone hanging over them, out of sight of the cameras. “What sound do two O’s make? Oo. Oo. So put it together.”
Dineen, executive director and founder of Reading Quest, is also the director of its summer films. The work is a marriage of Reading Quest’s instruction in literacy and her decades in youth theater. She also founded the School for the Arts and Sciences in 2000, and served as its principal and a theater instructor at the same time. A savvy director at this point, she darts between students’ emotional and wardrobe needs and the film crew’s logistical questions. During pre-production, students determine the plot, then Dineen runs a marathon scriptwriting session tailoring each student’s part to their reading level — informed by a week of working with them beforehand, and for many, months or years of seeing them read at the nonprofit’s center or in local schools. |
Jesters Aliana Garcia, left, Lindsey Slavik and Aria Ayala collapse in a heap during their scene Thursday while participating in the Reading is Magic Camp movie at the Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences.
Jim Weber/The New Mexican 
Cole Mendez, left, and Armina D'Amour get some action shots Thursday at the Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences.
Jim Weber/The New Mexican |
The kids fill a board with roles they imagine playing: “We had mermaids, dogs, everything you could think of. And then they have to choose.”
“We try to be really fair about everything, so they really feel ownership and empowerment,” Dineen said, noting most kids get their first choice — the exception being those who don’t get cast as king or queen.
As the plot developed, most kids pushed for a Robin Hood-style story: stealing tamales from the wealthy royals to give to the tamale-less peasantry, Dineen said.
The camp used to stage a play instead of a film, but that stopped working once space grew too tight for parents to come see the production.
“Adding the movie component makes it really powerful. You’re reading for a very important reason. You don’t want to let down your team. You want to be the actual characters,” Dineen said. “And kids remember this for their whole lives.”
“We try to be really fair about everything, so they really feel ownership and empowerment,” Dineen said, noting most kids get their first choice — the exception being those who don’t get cast as king or queen.
As the plot developed, most kids pushed for a Robin Hood-style story: stealing tamales from the wealthy royals to give to the tamale-less peasantry, Dineen said.
The camp used to stage a play instead of a film, but that stopped working once space grew too tight for parents to come see the production.
“Adding the movie component makes it really powerful. You’re reading for a very important reason. You don’t want to let down your team. You want to be the actual characters,” Dineen said. “And kids remember this for their whole lives.”
Jesters Aliana Garcia, left, Lindsey Slavik and Aria Ayala dance Thursday with Kamyla Ruiz, right, in the big dance finale of the camp movie at the Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences.
Jim Weber/The New Mexican
Jim Weber/The New Mexican
Conquering nerves
Kilian Zapet, a 9-year-old at Kearny Elementary, was indeed happy with his part.
As a cook, dressed in chef’s whites and a toque blanche hat, he was responsible for guarding the kingdom’s tamale supply — and for most of the theft of it.
He likes helping his mom cook, he said, citing the tortillas they make from scratch at home.
Still, Kilian admitted he was nervous about being in a film: He said he has to take a breath before scenes.
Dineen said his literacy skills have grown remarkably in the year he’s spent at the literacy center. But, it’s still not his favorite subject. He prefers math.
“It makes me excited,” Kilian said of the satisfaction of solving a problem using processes like multiplication and division. “I just like the vibe of it.”
As a cook, dressed in chef’s whites and a toque blanche hat, he was responsible for guarding the kingdom’s tamale supply — and for most of the theft of it.
He likes helping his mom cook, he said, citing the tortillas they make from scratch at home.
Still, Kilian admitted he was nervous about being in a film: He said he has to take a breath before scenes.
Dineen said his literacy skills have grown remarkably in the year he’s spent at the literacy center. But, it’s still not his favorite subject. He prefers math.
“It makes me excited,” Kilian said of the satisfaction of solving a problem using processes like multiplication and division. “I just like the vibe of it.”
W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Pass the Sopapillas Podcast
For improved education in New Mexico, start with Reading Quest
By James Hartree | January 18 2026
New Mexico’s education system is aaaalll bad, homie. We consistently rank last in national education statistics. This isn’t new.
Now, education is facing a new and remarkable challenge. People are asking, “How do we effectively police student’s use of chatbots?” Others are asking, “What is still worth learning, given that students can google everything, or what’s more, use ChatGPT to complete white collar tasks?” Still more ask, “How can I equip my child for a professional landscape suffering a mudslide?”
These are highfalutin problems for a state where 66% of high school seniors don’t read at grade level. Our state is not in a place to ask the same questions as New Yorkers and L.A.’ers. We have to ask: “How do you circumnavigate a parent population unwilling to continue education at home?” and, “How can a child be expected to learn to read confidently, let alone enjoy it, when there aren’t any books at home?”
Reading Quest, a local children’s literacy nonprofit, is the backstop of Santa Fe’s literacy. It is the literacy GOAT. By completing its two-week camp, students improve their reading abilities by a whole grade level. That’s crazy. A fourth grade reader becomes a fifth grade reader in two weeks with Reading Quest. In the hands of New Mexico’s public school system, on the other hand, students are advancing less than one grade level per year. Not two weeks — per year. New Mexico state legislators, please give Reading Quest $10 million, and please empower them to spread their methods across the state.
The Institute for Classical Dialogue, which aims to help New Mexican youths fall in love with reading, is here about 20 years too early. I don’t mean to be rude. It’s my company, so I blame myself. The ICD thinks that classical education is the answer to the modern education systems’ crisis of identity — don’t rote learn, don’t take tests, don’t lecture — help young people to read the best books ever written — by the people who invented the sciences, political systems, evolution, spaceships — and teach students to talk about those books, in great detail and at length. All those genius books will rub off on the students and teach them a pattern of thought that built everything we have. That’s the ICD premise. The ICD is great for students in New Mexico who are flying past their peers, who aren’t being challenged enough. It’s great for kids who have books at home. It’s great for the 44%. But what the state really needs is way more fundamental, way more basic.
Calling Reading Quest Executive Director Rayna Dineen one day, I tried to explain to her that what New Mexico needed was the classics. “New Mexico needs Plato, it needs Socratic dialogue! It needs seminar!” Rayna, showing patience to me that I hadn’t earned, explained to me, “No, James. New Mexico needs phonetics.” She asked me how I learned to read. I replied, “My parents taught me when I was a toddler, of course. They would read to me, and I would follow along until I could do it on my own, just like everyone else.” Rayna, showing restraint and respect that I hadn’t earned, explained to me, “Actually James, only about 10% of kids learn to read like that. You are very lucky.” And very naive, she could have added.
My prescription to the New Mexico education system:
1) Don’t worry about AI.
2) Worry about literacy.
3) Sign your kids up for Reading Quest.
4) Donate to them.
Repeat steps 1 through 4 until age 13, then give the ICD a call.
Article Link: Santa Fe New Mexican
James Hartree is from the U.K., and he runs the Institute for Classical Dialogue out of Santa Fe.
Now, education is facing a new and remarkable challenge. People are asking, “How do we effectively police student’s use of chatbots?” Others are asking, “What is still worth learning, given that students can google everything, or what’s more, use ChatGPT to complete white collar tasks?” Still more ask, “How can I equip my child for a professional landscape suffering a mudslide?”
These are highfalutin problems for a state where 66% of high school seniors don’t read at grade level. Our state is not in a place to ask the same questions as New Yorkers and L.A.’ers. We have to ask: “How do you circumnavigate a parent population unwilling to continue education at home?” and, “How can a child be expected to learn to read confidently, let alone enjoy it, when there aren’t any books at home?”
Reading Quest, a local children’s literacy nonprofit, is the backstop of Santa Fe’s literacy. It is the literacy GOAT. By completing its two-week camp, students improve their reading abilities by a whole grade level. That’s crazy. A fourth grade reader becomes a fifth grade reader in two weeks with Reading Quest. In the hands of New Mexico’s public school system, on the other hand, students are advancing less than one grade level per year. Not two weeks — per year. New Mexico state legislators, please give Reading Quest $10 million, and please empower them to spread their methods across the state.
The Institute for Classical Dialogue, which aims to help New Mexican youths fall in love with reading, is here about 20 years too early. I don’t mean to be rude. It’s my company, so I blame myself. The ICD thinks that classical education is the answer to the modern education systems’ crisis of identity — don’t rote learn, don’t take tests, don’t lecture — help young people to read the best books ever written — by the people who invented the sciences, political systems, evolution, spaceships — and teach students to talk about those books, in great detail and at length. All those genius books will rub off on the students and teach them a pattern of thought that built everything we have. That’s the ICD premise. The ICD is great for students in New Mexico who are flying past their peers, who aren’t being challenged enough. It’s great for kids who have books at home. It’s great for the 44%. But what the state really needs is way more fundamental, way more basic.
Calling Reading Quest Executive Director Rayna Dineen one day, I tried to explain to her that what New Mexico needed was the classics. “New Mexico needs Plato, it needs Socratic dialogue! It needs seminar!” Rayna, showing patience to me that I hadn’t earned, explained to me, “No, James. New Mexico needs phonetics.” She asked me how I learned to read. I replied, “My parents taught me when I was a toddler, of course. They would read to me, and I would follow along until I could do it on my own, just like everyone else.” Rayna, showing restraint and respect that I hadn’t earned, explained to me, “Actually James, only about 10% of kids learn to read like that. You are very lucky.” And very naive, she could have added.
My prescription to the New Mexico education system:
1) Don’t worry about AI.
2) Worry about literacy.
3) Sign your kids up for Reading Quest.
4) Donate to them.
Repeat steps 1 through 4 until age 13, then give the ICD a call.
Article Link: Santa Fe New Mexican
James Hartree is from the U.K., and he runs the Institute for Classical Dialogue out of Santa Fe.
Reading nonprofit makes learning fun as it celebrates 10th anniversary
By André Salkin [email protected] | December 17 2025
Roman Ornelas was struggling reading the title of the book, but behold, his helper: a toy muscle car adorned with blue flame decals driving atop the words to help the 10-year-old sound it out.
His tutor, Jessi Fuchs, 27, with Reading Quest drove the car along the literature until the fourth grader needed no help sounding it out — and she could deliver him exciting news.
“You leveled up!” she announced, an achievement meaning the boy had read another 10 books since his last level.
“Oh my gosh!” Roman replied, also having received the news Tuesday that he’s worked with a sizable 875 words in his time during the individualized reading instruction.
Fuchs is one of a fleet of 34 tutors; Roman, one of around 550 students — and their school, Turquoise Trail Charter, one of 12 serviced around the state by Reading Quest. The Santa Fe-based teaching nonprofit is celebrating its 10th anniversary providing individualized tutoring sessions that place engaging students — and celebrating their growth — at the forefront.
“For kids who have always struggled, they feel like they’re on top of the world,” said Rayna Dineen, executive director of ReadingQuest, during an interview at her group’s new headquarters off Camino De Los Marquez.
The organization’s site is a veritable children’s wonderland. Kids at the entrance take off their shoes and enter a large main room, festooned with posters of fantastical landscapes and creatures, toys and games lining the walls and floors — and an elevated reading treehouse overlooking the center of the space. Students received two books and a “reading buddy” stuffed animal as part of the group’s end-of-the-year giveaway.
“We try to make it feel like the most magical fun space because they’re doing the hardest thing,” Dineen said.
Students referred by their teachers as struggling readers receive individualized instruction, keeping the same tutor throughout the school year. Proponents of the method say it is the best way to teach reading to all learners — but especially for struggling and dyslexic readers.
Fuchs, who plays board games with students as part of her sessions to keep them engaged, said the approach to reading helps students avoid the “guessing” and “memorization” of balanced literacy, the opposite approach to structured literacy that has less focus on understanding individual word sounds, or phonemes.
“It just encourages kids,” Fuchs said. “Instead of just seeing something and then rushing through — hoping that it’s right, based on the context — any time they see a word, they have the tools to sound it out out.”
The approach to reading has not been without controversy. Lawmakers have been slow to embrace it despite a push from the state Public Education Department to roll out a statewide structured literacy initiative in the 2020-21 school year — and continued promotion by its biggest champion in the Roundhouse, Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart.
But Dineen, who was recently crowned one of New Mexico Magazine’s “True Heroes” of the year, never needed to be sold on it.
“ Luckily, I always worked in this way,” she said.
When she was in college, “I worked at a school for kids with dyslexia and ADHD — and they were doing phonics at that school, and I got to see how incredibly effective this is.”
But the nonprofit’s work is larger than a debatable approach to teaching literacy, with the empowerment and entertainment component of its style being just as significant.
Dineen, who founded the Santa Fe School for the Arts in 2000, said even before she started the school, she was a tutor developing her own games “and I saw how much more kids remembered when they played a game.”
She later founded the group, hosting camps as early as 2012 and establishing a formal nonprofit in 2015. Since then, the group’s reach has grown from West Las Vegas, N.M., to Taos, including schools across Santa Fe and in Cochiti and Santo Domingo pueblos and Ohkay Owingeh.
Bear Meyers, a coordinator with Reading Quest, said the number of tutors has doubled in his four years teaching for the group that he sees as a solution to common classroom woes for struggling readers.
“A lot of kids who come here hate reading because they’re always struggling so much,” he said. “ So we try to make it really fun and exciting.”
Songs, watching videos and playing games, he noted, are a regular part of the curriculum along with working through books and word lists.
“ Oftentimes with the kids in class, the teachers are like, ‘No, like, you got that wrong.’ But we just ... try to give them as ... much positivity as possible,” he said. “Maybe they’re the bad kid all day. But then they come here and we kind of make them the star of the show.”
Article Link: Santa Fe New Mexican
His tutor, Jessi Fuchs, 27, with Reading Quest drove the car along the literature until the fourth grader needed no help sounding it out — and she could deliver him exciting news.
“You leveled up!” she announced, an achievement meaning the boy had read another 10 books since his last level.
“Oh my gosh!” Roman replied, also having received the news Tuesday that he’s worked with a sizable 875 words in his time during the individualized reading instruction.
Fuchs is one of a fleet of 34 tutors; Roman, one of around 550 students — and their school, Turquoise Trail Charter, one of 12 serviced around the state by Reading Quest. The Santa Fe-based teaching nonprofit is celebrating its 10th anniversary providing individualized tutoring sessions that place engaging students — and celebrating their growth — at the forefront.
“For kids who have always struggled, they feel like they’re on top of the world,” said Rayna Dineen, executive director of ReadingQuest, during an interview at her group’s new headquarters off Camino De Los Marquez.
The organization’s site is a veritable children’s wonderland. Kids at the entrance take off their shoes and enter a large main room, festooned with posters of fantastical landscapes and creatures, toys and games lining the walls and floors — and an elevated reading treehouse overlooking the center of the space. Students received two books and a “reading buddy” stuffed animal as part of the group’s end-of-the-year giveaway.
“We try to make it feel like the most magical fun space because they’re doing the hardest thing,” Dineen said.
Students referred by their teachers as struggling readers receive individualized instruction, keeping the same tutor throughout the school year. Proponents of the method say it is the best way to teach reading to all learners — but especially for struggling and dyslexic readers.
Fuchs, who plays board games with students as part of her sessions to keep them engaged, said the approach to reading helps students avoid the “guessing” and “memorization” of balanced literacy, the opposite approach to structured literacy that has less focus on understanding individual word sounds, or phonemes.
“It just encourages kids,” Fuchs said. “Instead of just seeing something and then rushing through — hoping that it’s right, based on the context — any time they see a word, they have the tools to sound it out out.”
The approach to reading has not been without controversy. Lawmakers have been slow to embrace it despite a push from the state Public Education Department to roll out a statewide structured literacy initiative in the 2020-21 school year — and continued promotion by its biggest champion in the Roundhouse, Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart.
But Dineen, who was recently crowned one of New Mexico Magazine’s “True Heroes” of the year, never needed to be sold on it.
“ Luckily, I always worked in this way,” she said.
When she was in college, “I worked at a school for kids with dyslexia and ADHD — and they were doing phonics at that school, and I got to see how incredibly effective this is.”
But the nonprofit’s work is larger than a debatable approach to teaching literacy, with the empowerment and entertainment component of its style being just as significant.
Dineen, who founded the Santa Fe School for the Arts in 2000, said even before she started the school, she was a tutor developing her own games “and I saw how much more kids remembered when they played a game.”
She later founded the group, hosting camps as early as 2012 and establishing a formal nonprofit in 2015. Since then, the group’s reach has grown from West Las Vegas, N.M., to Taos, including schools across Santa Fe and in Cochiti and Santo Domingo pueblos and Ohkay Owingeh.
Bear Meyers, a coordinator with Reading Quest, said the number of tutors has doubled in his four years teaching for the group that he sees as a solution to common classroom woes for struggling readers.
“A lot of kids who come here hate reading because they’re always struggling so much,” he said. “ So we try to make it really fun and exciting.”
Songs, watching videos and playing games, he noted, are a regular part of the curriculum along with working through books and word lists.
“ Oftentimes with the kids in class, the teachers are like, ‘No, like, you got that wrong.’ But we just ... try to give them as ... much positivity as possible,” he said. “Maybe they’re the bad kid all day. But then they come here and we kind of make them the star of the show.”
Article Link: Santa Fe New Mexican
2025 NM True Heroes: 10 People Who Make a Difference
New Mexico Magazine December 2025
NM True Heroes Interview with Rayna Dineen starts at 11:55.
Giving the Gift of Reading
Learning to read with joy and the science of reading
By Rayna Dineen | April 29 2025
Courtesy photo: Hugo and Bryan
Reading Quest, a Santa Fe nonprofit, is offering free individual one-on-one tutoring sessions this summer for students in grades K-8 who struggle with reading.
It would be hard to exaggerate the importance of being able to read proficiently. This is true for everyone—but especially for students in elementary and middle school. It is estimated that up to 70% of all learning in high school is reading-based. A child who struggles to read by third grade is significantly less likely to graduate high school, with studies showing they are four times more likely to drop out compared to proficient readers. Children who are not reading well by fourth grade are also three times more likely to end up in the criminal justice system than their literate peers.
Currently an estimated 21% of adults in the United States (43 million people) are considered functionally illiterate. For adults, functional illiteracy—meaning difficulty reading and writing at a level sufficient for everyday tasks—can lead to significant drawbacks in employment, health, finances, and overall well-being, resulting in lower income, limited opportunities, and reduced quality of life.
The need for reading support is especially critical in New Mexico. Unfortunately, New Mexico has the lowest reading proficiency of any state, with the most recent national assessment showing that only 20% of our public-school students can read proficiently at grade level.
Everyone at Reading Quest is passionate about providing reading support for all students who need help with reading. We are committed to providing free equitable access to effective reading instruction for all students, empowering them to believe in themselves as they become competent, enthusiastic readers. We strongly believe that all students are capable of learning to read—and loving reading. Parents who can afford private tutors hire them. We want to provide the same level of support for all students, free of cost.
It would be hard to exaggerate the importance of being able to read proficiently. This is true for everyone—but especially for students in elementary and middle school. It is estimated that up to 70% of all learning in high school is reading-based. A child who struggles to read by third grade is significantly less likely to graduate high school, with studies showing they are four times more likely to drop out compared to proficient readers. Children who are not reading well by fourth grade are also three times more likely to end up in the criminal justice system than their literate peers.
Currently an estimated 21% of adults in the United States (43 million people) are considered functionally illiterate. For adults, functional illiteracy—meaning difficulty reading and writing at a level sufficient for everyday tasks—can lead to significant drawbacks in employment, health, finances, and overall well-being, resulting in lower income, limited opportunities, and reduced quality of life.
The need for reading support is especially critical in New Mexico. Unfortunately, New Mexico has the lowest reading proficiency of any state, with the most recent national assessment showing that only 20% of our public-school students can read proficiently at grade level.
Everyone at Reading Quest is passionate about providing reading support for all students who need help with reading. We are committed to providing free equitable access to effective reading instruction for all students, empowering them to believe in themselves as they become competent, enthusiastic readers. We strongly believe that all students are capable of learning to read—and loving reading. Parents who can afford private tutors hire them. We want to provide the same level of support for all students, free of cost.
Courtesy photo: Luis with three books.
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Courtesy photo: Lyndsey and Dalyeza.
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In 2011, the governor of New Mexico proposed retaining all third-grade students who were not reading at grade level, despite research clearly proving that retaining third graders, especially with the same curriculum and teacher, does not improve their reading. At the time, I was the principal at the Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences (the school that I founded in 2000) My middle school students and I created a community-wide literacy campaign, which the students named Hooked on Books. This campaign included city-wide reading contests reaching thousands of students. We also placed free bookshelves in places where low-income families waited with their children like the Income Support Division, the DMV and the hospital emergency room. Our Hooked on Books youth group ended up receiving the Peace Jam Global Call to Action Award and spent a day with a Nobel Peace Laureate, Leymah Gbowee. Another Nobel Peace Laureate, Betty Williams, had tea with our group in Santa Fe and assisted us with one of our Hooked on Books awards ceremonies.
We were also given the opportunity to give a TEDx Talk, and started a summer camp called Reading Is Magic, which is now entering its 14th year.
In 2015, Reading Quest, an offshoot of Hooked on Books, officially became its own nonprofit, and with a handful of reading specialists we started tutoring a small group of students. Now we tutoring close to 500 students each week, with 31 reading specialists tutoring during the school day in the following schools: Santa Fe’s Aspen Community School, Cesar Chavez Elementary school, Sweeney Elementary School and Turquoise Trail Charter School; Taos’s Ranchos and Enos Garcia Elementary schools; Ohkay Owingeh, Cochiti and Santo Domingo Pueblo Schools, and Rio Gallinas School for Ecology and the Arts in West Las Vegas, in addition to tutoring students after school and Saturdays at our center.
We were also given the opportunity to give a TEDx Talk, and started a summer camp called Reading Is Magic, which is now entering its 14th year.
In 2015, Reading Quest, an offshoot of Hooked on Books, officially became its own nonprofit, and with a handful of reading specialists we started tutoring a small group of students. Now we tutoring close to 500 students each week, with 31 reading specialists tutoring during the school day in the following schools: Santa Fe’s Aspen Community School, Cesar Chavez Elementary school, Sweeney Elementary School and Turquoise Trail Charter School; Taos’s Ranchos and Enos Garcia Elementary schools; Ohkay Owingeh, Cochiti and Santo Domingo Pueblo Schools, and Rio Gallinas School for Ecology and the Arts in West Las Vegas, in addition to tutoring students after school and Saturdays at our center.
Courtesy photo: Hugo and Bryan
We are especially grateful for our team of reading specialists, teen interns, and tutors who are incredibly skilled at both teaching and connecting with our students. Our Reading Quest team also provides workshops for teachers, parents and tutors. Reading Quest’s team of bilingual tutors are especially skilled at supporting newcomers and teaching English Language Learners. We are very grateful for our teen interns who are part of the Work Based Learning program.
Reading Quest teaches using explicit Structured Literacy, which is an evidence-based practice that adheres to the science of reading. Reading Quest’s approach is grounded in how children develop the ability to read. Research demonstrates that explicit phonics instruction is significantly more effective than non-explicit, or non-phonics instruction, in helping to prevent reading difficulties among at-risk students, and helping children overcome reading difficulties. Reading Quest’s Structured Literacy approach to reading instruction is particularly effective for students at risk for reading difficulties due to a variety of factors (e.g., status as an English Language Learner, and students with learning differences and disabilities.)
What makes Reading Quest unique is our highly engaging, multi-sensory curriculum which integrates phonics, American Sign Language, exciting decodable texts, reading games, songs, and multi-sensory resources. The books in our program also reflect the diversity and cultures of our students. Perhaps the most important aspect of our unique approach is that it is really, really fun. Students bond with their tutors and never want their sessions to end.
Our website readingquestcenter.org is full of free support for parents and teachers with teaching videos, book and app suggestions, and much more.
The hour-long sessions this summer will be offered at our center at 509 Camino de los Marquez (next to Zoomies Doggie Day Care) from June 9 to 26 and from July 7 to 31. Students can attend between one and four days each week. Each student will receive professional support in a super fun, engaging way that includes games, great books, stickers, and prizes.
Teachers can refer students using the teacher referral form on our website, and parents can write to [email protected] to sign up their child.
We believe all children have the right to learn how to read—and our future depends on it.
Rayna Dineen is the founder and executive director of Reading Quest. She has been an educator for 44 years and feels incredibly lucky to work with the amazing Reading Quest staff, students, and families. They bring her joy every day. Visit readingquestcenter.org to see our teaching videos and lots of reading resources.
Tumbleweeds Magazine
Reading Quest teaches using explicit Structured Literacy, which is an evidence-based practice that adheres to the science of reading. Reading Quest’s approach is grounded in how children develop the ability to read. Research demonstrates that explicit phonics instruction is significantly more effective than non-explicit, or non-phonics instruction, in helping to prevent reading difficulties among at-risk students, and helping children overcome reading difficulties. Reading Quest’s Structured Literacy approach to reading instruction is particularly effective for students at risk for reading difficulties due to a variety of factors (e.g., status as an English Language Learner, and students with learning differences and disabilities.)
What makes Reading Quest unique is our highly engaging, multi-sensory curriculum which integrates phonics, American Sign Language, exciting decodable texts, reading games, songs, and multi-sensory resources. The books in our program also reflect the diversity and cultures of our students. Perhaps the most important aspect of our unique approach is that it is really, really fun. Students bond with their tutors and never want their sessions to end.
Our website readingquestcenter.org is full of free support for parents and teachers with teaching videos, book and app suggestions, and much more.
The hour-long sessions this summer will be offered at our center at 509 Camino de los Marquez (next to Zoomies Doggie Day Care) from June 9 to 26 and from July 7 to 31. Students can attend between one and four days each week. Each student will receive professional support in a super fun, engaging way that includes games, great books, stickers, and prizes.
Teachers can refer students using the teacher referral form on our website, and parents can write to [email protected] to sign up their child.
We believe all children have the right to learn how to read—and our future depends on it.
Rayna Dineen is the founder and executive director of Reading Quest. She has been an educator for 44 years and feels incredibly lucky to work with the amazing Reading Quest staff, students, and families. They bring her joy every day. Visit readingquestcenter.org to see our teaching videos and lots of reading resources.
Tumbleweeds Magazine
Founder of nonprofit educational group Reading Quest discusses new headquarters, summer programming
By Mike Easterling [email protected] | March 31, 2025
Reading Quest is a Santa Fe nonprofit that provides free, structured literacy tutoring and social-emotional support for hundreds of students a week in Northern New Mexico.
Its founder and executive director, Rayna Dineen, has worked in education for 45 years and said she loves teaching. Dineen co-directed the Cariño Community Children Program in partnership with Santa Fe Public Schools and worked at New Vistas prior to founding the Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences in 2000, serving as a teaching principal there for 13 years. She also worked as an education consultant and literacy researcher for four years for EL Education, an education nonprofit group serving hundreds of schools across the country.
The New Mexican submitted several questions to Dineen about her organization, which is in the middle of moving to a new home, and what it seeks to accomplish. Some of her responses have been edited for clarity and style.
Question: Can you tell me about the free event you have planned to celebrate your organization’s move into your new space?
Answer: We are hosting a fun event called Gather & Games on Sunday, April 6, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at our new space at 509 Camino de los Marquez, next door to Zoomies Doggie Day Care. Guests can choose to visit with one of our “Reading Chef” students, each of whom will have a menu of books for each visitor to choose from and have read to them. Guests can also choose to play an adult game, such as Taboo and Pictionary. We will have food and drinks, as well as tours of our new space. The event is sponsored by Nusenda Credit Union, and we are very grateful to them for their support.
Question: Why is your organization making the move and will the new space allow you to do things that you couldn’t do in your former home?
Answer: We loved our former home, which was generously donated by Growing Up New Mexico for eight years. However, Growing Up New Mexico is in the midst of a strategic renovation of their center and needs the space for their offices.
Question: How long has this move been envisioned, and what kind of financial resources were required to make it possible?
Answer: We were not planning to move at this time, but it has all worked because our new space is ideal for us right now! The only drawback is that we now must now pay rent!
Question: Can you tell me about the free summer tutoring program you have planned, how many youngsters you hope to reach and how they can register for the program?
Answer: We will be providing individual one-on-one tutoring sessions for 100 students in grades K-8 who are struggling with reading. The hourlong sessions will be offered at our new home from June 9-26 and from July 7-31. Students can attend between one and four days each week. Each student will receive professional, science-of-reading-based support in a super-fun, engaging way that includes games, great books, stickers and prizes. Teachers can refer students using the teacher referral form on our website — and parents can write to [email protected] to sign up their child.
Question: You’ve said your programs are having very good results in pueblo schools, along with public and charter schools. Do you have any figures you can share that show the kind of progress students are making?
Answer: We collect pre- and post-test scores each year — and while we do not yet have the end-of-year scores for this year, we have midyear scores from one of our pueblo schools that show the average growth on Istation was 30 points during the first semester! Each year since we started, our test scores show an average growth of one and a half years or more depending on how many days a week we tutor each student, with some students making two to three years’ growth in one year. Reading Quest campers advanced, on average, one grade level in oral reading during each two-week-long camp for the past 13 years.
Question: With the move into your new home, it seems like a good time to discuss the evolution of Reading Quest. How has the organization evolved over the years and how do you see it changing in the future?
Answer: Reading Quest began tutoring just 40 students a week — and we are now serving close to 500! We are currently tutoring at Santo Domingo, Cochiti and Ohkay Owingeh pueblo schools; Enos Garcia and Ranchos Elementary schools in Taos; Aspen, Sweeney, César Chávez and Turquoise Trail Charter School in Santa Fe, and Rio Gallinas Charter School in West Las Vegas. We have an incredibly diverse team of 31 adult reading specialists, in addition to 15 wonderful teen tutors, some of whom are in the amazing Work Based Learning program. We provide workshops on teaching reading and positive classroom management for teachers and parents at schools, and for volunteer tutors in town. Our program has expanded to reach many newcomer students who are learning English, in addition to students with special needs. We have created teaching videos and resources, which can be found on our website, readingquestcenter.org.
Question: What are the biggest challenges your organization faces?
Answer: Our most valuable resource is our incredible team of tutors — and each year we need to raise all of the funds to pay them well! Since our services are free, this is always our biggest challenge. The other challenge is raising enough funds to expand and serve the increasing number of schools who are requesting our services.
Mike Easterling
Its founder and executive director, Rayna Dineen, has worked in education for 45 years and said she loves teaching. Dineen co-directed the Cariño Community Children Program in partnership with Santa Fe Public Schools and worked at New Vistas prior to founding the Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences in 2000, serving as a teaching principal there for 13 years. She also worked as an education consultant and literacy researcher for four years for EL Education, an education nonprofit group serving hundreds of schools across the country.
The New Mexican submitted several questions to Dineen about her organization, which is in the middle of moving to a new home, and what it seeks to accomplish. Some of her responses have been edited for clarity and style.
Question: Can you tell me about the free event you have planned to celebrate your organization’s move into your new space?
Answer: We are hosting a fun event called Gather & Games on Sunday, April 6, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at our new space at 509 Camino de los Marquez, next door to Zoomies Doggie Day Care. Guests can choose to visit with one of our “Reading Chef” students, each of whom will have a menu of books for each visitor to choose from and have read to them. Guests can also choose to play an adult game, such as Taboo and Pictionary. We will have food and drinks, as well as tours of our new space. The event is sponsored by Nusenda Credit Union, and we are very grateful to them for their support.
Question: Why is your organization making the move and will the new space allow you to do things that you couldn’t do in your former home?
Answer: We loved our former home, which was generously donated by Growing Up New Mexico for eight years. However, Growing Up New Mexico is in the midst of a strategic renovation of their center and needs the space for their offices.
Question: How long has this move been envisioned, and what kind of financial resources were required to make it possible?
Answer: We were not planning to move at this time, but it has all worked because our new space is ideal for us right now! The only drawback is that we now must now pay rent!
Question: Can you tell me about the free summer tutoring program you have planned, how many youngsters you hope to reach and how they can register for the program?
Answer: We will be providing individual one-on-one tutoring sessions for 100 students in grades K-8 who are struggling with reading. The hourlong sessions will be offered at our new home from June 9-26 and from July 7-31. Students can attend between one and four days each week. Each student will receive professional, science-of-reading-based support in a super-fun, engaging way that includes games, great books, stickers and prizes. Teachers can refer students using the teacher referral form on our website — and parents can write to [email protected] to sign up their child.
Question: You’ve said your programs are having very good results in pueblo schools, along with public and charter schools. Do you have any figures you can share that show the kind of progress students are making?
Answer: We collect pre- and post-test scores each year — and while we do not yet have the end-of-year scores for this year, we have midyear scores from one of our pueblo schools that show the average growth on Istation was 30 points during the first semester! Each year since we started, our test scores show an average growth of one and a half years or more depending on how many days a week we tutor each student, with some students making two to three years’ growth in one year. Reading Quest campers advanced, on average, one grade level in oral reading during each two-week-long camp for the past 13 years.
Question: With the move into your new home, it seems like a good time to discuss the evolution of Reading Quest. How has the organization evolved over the years and how do you see it changing in the future?
Answer: Reading Quest began tutoring just 40 students a week — and we are now serving close to 500! We are currently tutoring at Santo Domingo, Cochiti and Ohkay Owingeh pueblo schools; Enos Garcia and Ranchos Elementary schools in Taos; Aspen, Sweeney, César Chávez and Turquoise Trail Charter School in Santa Fe, and Rio Gallinas Charter School in West Las Vegas. We have an incredibly diverse team of 31 adult reading specialists, in addition to 15 wonderful teen tutors, some of whom are in the amazing Work Based Learning program. We provide workshops on teaching reading and positive classroom management for teachers and parents at schools, and for volunteer tutors in town. Our program has expanded to reach many newcomer students who are learning English, in addition to students with special needs. We have created teaching videos and resources, which can be found on our website, readingquestcenter.org.
Question: What are the biggest challenges your organization faces?
Answer: Our most valuable resource is our incredible team of tutors — and each year we need to raise all of the funds to pay them well! Since our services are free, this is always our biggest challenge. The other challenge is raising enough funds to expand and serve the increasing number of schools who are requesting our services.
Mike Easterling
Reading Quest's literacy summer camp expands in
New Mexico, Oklahoma
By Margaret O’Hara
[email protected]
Jul 3, 2024
On a Quest to Change Lives: Being a Reading Tutor
- By Abby Frey Generation Next
New Mexico has consistently been linked with lower rates of educational attainment compared to the rest of the United States. In fact, in 2024, New Mexico was rated the 42nd most educated state in the country, according to a study by WalletHub. Recent data from the New Mexico Public Education Department shows that only 38% of New Mexico students are proficient in reading, one of the lowest percentages in the nation.
It wasn’t until my mom, a fourth grade teacher at Eldorado Community School, expressed her sadness and concern with New Mexico’s consistently low ranking that I realized the size and scope of the reading problem in New Mexico.
This low number is partly due to the relationship between poverty and literacy. As of 2023, New Mexico’s poverty rate is 16.8%, which is higher than the national rate of 11%, according to a report from the New Mexico Legislature. Factors of poverty like coming to school hungry, no access to reading materials at home and the absence of a role model who prioritizes reading, contributes to lower literacy rates, according to an initiative of the World Literacy Foundation called USA Reads. However, there are resources that can be found right here in Santa Fe that prioritize boosting student proficiency in reading. One of those organizations is Reading Quest.
Reading Quest is a nonprofit organization, started in 2012, that provides free structured literacy tutoring. The organization believes “every child has a right to read” and that closing the education gap between low- and high-income students is important in fighting inequity and poverty, according to its website. Reading Quest’s staff not only includes adult tutors but teenage tutors as well. There is a belief that kids feel motivated when teenagers are reading with them.
It wasn’t until my mom, a fourth grade teacher at Eldorado Community School, expressed her sadness and concern with New Mexico’s consistently low ranking that I realized the size and scope of the reading problem in New Mexico.
This low number is partly due to the relationship between poverty and literacy. As of 2023, New Mexico’s poverty rate is 16.8%, which is higher than the national rate of 11%, according to a report from the New Mexico Legislature. Factors of poverty like coming to school hungry, no access to reading materials at home and the absence of a role model who prioritizes reading, contributes to lower literacy rates, according to an initiative of the World Literacy Foundation called USA Reads. However, there are resources that can be found right here in Santa Fe that prioritize boosting student proficiency in reading. One of those organizations is Reading Quest.
Reading Quest is a nonprofit organization, started in 2012, that provides free structured literacy tutoring. The organization believes “every child has a right to read” and that closing the education gap between low- and high-income students is important in fighting inequity and poverty, according to its website. Reading Quest’s staff not only includes adult tutors but teenage tutors as well. There is a belief that kids feel motivated when teenagers are reading with them.
In fact, some of my summer days consist of driving up to Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences, where Reading Quest’s summer program takes place, and walking into a room filled with inspiring young readers who are eager to start the day. My school has an intern program where they offer jobs to high schoolers at the program’s various business partners. One of the business partners was Reading Quest. I was in search of my first job and loved reading, so I became interested in working there.
I have been working with Reading Quest for about a year, and it is such a rewarding experience. Seeing the faces of students — who range from first grade to eighth grade — light up when they grasp a new concept or finally understand what they’ve been struggling with is priceless. It’s almost like watching a light bulb go off in their heads. Of course, there are challenges that each student faces. It can be difficult to find the right approach to help them break through those barriers. But the Reading Quest staff has been helpful in finding different approaches to these barriers.
Early on, I was able to directly see the teaching process behind each tutoring session and apply it to my students. Additionally, the staff is made of countless amazing people who express so much kindness and compassion for everyone around them. Working with Reading Quest has given me the opportunity to give back to my community in a gratifying and enjoyable way.
Another tutor at Reading Quest, soon-to-be Mandela International Magnet School sophomore Sonya Mendez, was offered a job after helping her little brother in reading. Her brother, Lorenzo Mendez, had been attending tutoring sessions with Reading Quest, and Mendez was willing to do anything to help him improve. Eventually she started to incorporate the words he practiced into games at home.
“It was a little silly, considering I knew absolutely nothing about teaching reading,” Mendez said in a recent interview. “But Lorenzo and I would play these games, and I would hope that at least something from them would work.”
Eventually, Rayna Dineen, the founder of Reading Quest, had heard of Mendez’s games and invited her to come work for Reading Quest. Mendez has been working there ever since — October 2022. Today, the games are a part of the tutoring sessions for each student.
A newer tutor, Brian Ennis, has only been working with Reading Quest for a few weeks but says he has already learned so much.
“It cannot be understated how life-changing it is for these kids to have the help they need to succeed in reading,” said Ennis, who is about to begin his senior year of high school.
One of the ways the newer staff members at Reading Quest learn to tutor is through shadowing more experienced tutors, which is how I started the program. I remember being able to understand the methods and teachings of Reading Quest quickly and thoroughly because I had a direct source to learn from.
Shadowing is so important to the learning process because individuals are able to gain insight into the roles of the job, according to the University of Cambridge. This way, individuals are able to learn what they are supposed to do in a more effective and efficient manner.
According to the Reading Quest website, the organization has served 700 students through its Reading is Magic summer camps and has served over 1,600 students from the Santa Fe, Las Vegas and Bernalillo areas in the past three years.
Personally, working with Reading Quest has been such a life-changing experience. We’re not just tutoring students to read; we’re empowering them with a skill that will last a lifetime. Every day, I get to witness unlocking the world of literature for young minds.
I have been working with Reading Quest for about a year, and it is such a rewarding experience. Seeing the faces of students — who range from first grade to eighth grade — light up when they grasp a new concept or finally understand what they’ve been struggling with is priceless. It’s almost like watching a light bulb go off in their heads. Of course, there are challenges that each student faces. It can be difficult to find the right approach to help them break through those barriers. But the Reading Quest staff has been helpful in finding different approaches to these barriers.
Early on, I was able to directly see the teaching process behind each tutoring session and apply it to my students. Additionally, the staff is made of countless amazing people who express so much kindness and compassion for everyone around them. Working with Reading Quest has given me the opportunity to give back to my community in a gratifying and enjoyable way.
Another tutor at Reading Quest, soon-to-be Mandela International Magnet School sophomore Sonya Mendez, was offered a job after helping her little brother in reading. Her brother, Lorenzo Mendez, had been attending tutoring sessions with Reading Quest, and Mendez was willing to do anything to help him improve. Eventually she started to incorporate the words he practiced into games at home.
“It was a little silly, considering I knew absolutely nothing about teaching reading,” Mendez said in a recent interview. “But Lorenzo and I would play these games, and I would hope that at least something from them would work.”
Eventually, Rayna Dineen, the founder of Reading Quest, had heard of Mendez’s games and invited her to come work for Reading Quest. Mendez has been working there ever since — October 2022. Today, the games are a part of the tutoring sessions for each student.
A newer tutor, Brian Ennis, has only been working with Reading Quest for a few weeks but says he has already learned so much.
“It cannot be understated how life-changing it is for these kids to have the help they need to succeed in reading,” said Ennis, who is about to begin his senior year of high school.
One of the ways the newer staff members at Reading Quest learn to tutor is through shadowing more experienced tutors, which is how I started the program. I remember being able to understand the methods and teachings of Reading Quest quickly and thoroughly because I had a direct source to learn from.
Shadowing is so important to the learning process because individuals are able to gain insight into the roles of the job, according to the University of Cambridge. This way, individuals are able to learn what they are supposed to do in a more effective and efficient manner.
According to the Reading Quest website, the organization has served 700 students through its Reading is Magic summer camps and has served over 1,600 students from the Santa Fe, Las Vegas and Bernalillo areas in the past three years.
Personally, working with Reading Quest has been such a life-changing experience. We’re not just tutoring students to read; we’re empowering them with a skill that will last a lifetime. Every day, I get to witness unlocking the world of literature for young minds.
Reading Quest Read-a-Thon in the Santa Fe New Mexican
Reading Quest's Afghan Children's Program
in the Santa Fe New Mexican
Reading Magic!
By Tania Soussan | August 24, 2023
|
Parents and teachers tend to use the word magic when describing Reading Quest, a Santa Fe-based childhood literacy program that is helping about 450 elementary school students learn to read every week through one-on-one professional tutoring.
“It’s like magic,” said Amanda Mendez, whose 11-year-old son, Lorenzo, has been in the program for two years. “Amazing, amazing, amazing results. For Lorenzo, yes, he has improved in his reading skills. But, more so, his confidence. He’s definitely come so far.” For many young students, reading and self-confidence go hand in hand. Struggling to read at the level of their peers can be discouraging and can impact their ability to keep up with other subjects. Learning to read can boost their self-esteem and improve their overall success. |
Reading Quest was founded by Rayna Dineen, who started Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences and the Hooked on Books literacy campaign. Since its beginnings in 2015, the program has grown to have a paid staff of 22 highly trained adult reading specialists and 13 college and high school students who provide free structured literacy tutoring and social emotional support for hundreds of striving readers.
Programs include free Reading is Magic summer camps, free onsite tutoring in seven Title I schools in Santa Fe and West Las Vegas, individual tutoring at the Reading Quest site and coaching and professional development for teachers."
“We work really hard to make Reading Quest a safe place to read,” said Dineen, the executive director. “No kids are making fun of anyone."
Programs include free Reading is Magic summer camps, free onsite tutoring in seven Title I schools in Santa Fe and West Las Vegas, individual tutoring at the Reading Quest site and coaching and professional development for teachers."
“We work really hard to make Reading Quest a safe place to read,” said Dineen, the executive director. “No kids are making fun of anyone."
As a fourth-grade teacher at Kearney Elementary School and an academic interventionist at Tesuque Elementary School in Santa Fe, Lisa Moyer referred many students to Reading Quest for tutoring.
“Reading became something they were interested in and looked forward to rather than ran away from,” she said, adding that the tutors met the students “where they were” and helped them reach goals.
One third grader who could not read has become a flourishing student with aspirations for the future. “It was amazing. That child’s life was flipped around,” Moyer said. “Reading is a social justice issue. When they're behind, it affects their whole future.”
Moyer’s 6-year-old son also participated in Reading Quest for two years, going from very far behind during the pandemic to now being at grade level.
Instruction at Reading Quest is based on the science of reading, which uses strategies such as phonics and direct instruction. Mary Ellen Dannenberg, principal of Turquoise Trail Elementary School, said her school shares that approach.
“They make great connections with the kids, so everyone wants to go. It has somebody paying attention just to them and helping them with a problem,” she said. “It changes their whole attitude about learning. It's empowering to go, ‘Oh, my gosh, I finally understand this. It's not hard anymore.’”
Teachers at Turquoise Trail also observe the tutors to get ideas and take advantage of the training programs so they all are following the same playbook.
“We're really invested in what Reading Quest does,” Dannenberg said, adding that the school has two tutors two days a week who work with 12 children and hopes to expand to three days a week this year. They also sponsor some students in the summer camp.
Literacy is a major challenge in the United States, and especially in New Mexico. Nationally, 65 percent of fourth graders read below grade level, which contributes to 8,000 high school students dropping out of school every day, according to Reading is Fundamental. The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress found 33 percent of fourth graders proficient in reading nationally. New Mexico came in last of the 50 states, with only 21 percent of fourth grade students able to read proficiently or above, Dineen said.
Some Reading Quest students start out one to three years behind grade level, but the program has a strong and measurable positive impact. “Our kids are making two to three times the expected growth on the standardized test scores – really remarkable growth,” Dineen said.
In the last school year, Reading Quest students at Sweeney Elementary School improved their standardized reading test scores by more than the expected growth rate, and third and fifth graders improved by almost twice the expected rate, for example.
“The thing that makes our program so effective is our teachers are able to develop really strong relationships with the students, trusting, caring relationships,” Dineen said, adding that they use games and songs rather than worksheets to make the tutoring fun. In a model based on video games, students also win books every time they reach a new level based on their effort.
Learning to read is an “incredibly powerful tool to combat poverty and inequity,” she said.
Reading Quest partners with Native American Student Services in Santa Fe and has seen great progress in some pueblo students it has been tutoring during the past few years. Dineen hopes to expand services to local pueblos. The program also has been serving 17 Afghan children and their families for more than a year.
Article: New Mexico Kids
“Reading became something they were interested in and looked forward to rather than ran away from,” she said, adding that the tutors met the students “where they were” and helped them reach goals.
One third grader who could not read has become a flourishing student with aspirations for the future. “It was amazing. That child’s life was flipped around,” Moyer said. “Reading is a social justice issue. When they're behind, it affects their whole future.”
Moyer’s 6-year-old son also participated in Reading Quest for two years, going from very far behind during the pandemic to now being at grade level.
Instruction at Reading Quest is based on the science of reading, which uses strategies such as phonics and direct instruction. Mary Ellen Dannenberg, principal of Turquoise Trail Elementary School, said her school shares that approach.
“They make great connections with the kids, so everyone wants to go. It has somebody paying attention just to them and helping them with a problem,” she said. “It changes their whole attitude about learning. It's empowering to go, ‘Oh, my gosh, I finally understand this. It's not hard anymore.’”
Teachers at Turquoise Trail also observe the tutors to get ideas and take advantage of the training programs so they all are following the same playbook.
“We're really invested in what Reading Quest does,” Dannenberg said, adding that the school has two tutors two days a week who work with 12 children and hopes to expand to three days a week this year. They also sponsor some students in the summer camp.
Literacy is a major challenge in the United States, and especially in New Mexico. Nationally, 65 percent of fourth graders read below grade level, which contributes to 8,000 high school students dropping out of school every day, according to Reading is Fundamental. The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress found 33 percent of fourth graders proficient in reading nationally. New Mexico came in last of the 50 states, with only 21 percent of fourth grade students able to read proficiently or above, Dineen said.
Some Reading Quest students start out one to three years behind grade level, but the program has a strong and measurable positive impact. “Our kids are making two to three times the expected growth on the standardized test scores – really remarkable growth,” Dineen said.
In the last school year, Reading Quest students at Sweeney Elementary School improved their standardized reading test scores by more than the expected growth rate, and third and fifth graders improved by almost twice the expected rate, for example.
“The thing that makes our program so effective is our teachers are able to develop really strong relationships with the students, trusting, caring relationships,” Dineen said, adding that they use games and songs rather than worksheets to make the tutoring fun. In a model based on video games, students also win books every time they reach a new level based on their effort.
Learning to read is an “incredibly powerful tool to combat poverty and inequity,” she said.
Reading Quest partners with Native American Student Services in Santa Fe and has seen great progress in some pueblo students it has been tutoring during the past few years. Dineen hopes to expand services to local pueblos. The program also has been serving 17 Afghan children and their families for more than a year.
Article: New Mexico Kids
Make Phonics Instruction Fun!
Reading Quest Blog post for Phonic Books
Santa Fe New Mexican Editorial March 28,2023
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Santa Fe Youth Literacy Program Reading Quest
Presenting Method at England Conference
By Margaret O’Hara, Photo by Javier Gallegos/The New Mexican | March 22, 2023
Kasey Rivera, 9, spent Wednesday morning reading about a narwhal.
With some help from Avery Armstrong, a reading specialist, Kasey breezed through the book, sitting on a couch at the headquarters of Santa Fe-based literacy organization Reading Quest. Occasionally, Armstrong paused Kasey as she read aloud to ask comprehension questions or revisit a word.
But there’s a big difference between Wednesday’s Kasey — who could read out complicated narwhal facts with minimal help from Armstrong — and the Kasey who first arrived at Reading Quest.
That Kasey lacked the confidence to read aloud.
“They’ve changed a lot about me,” Kasey said of the Reading Quest staff. “I used to be so nervous about reading out loud. And now, I can do that without even being nervous.
“I love this place. It’s one of my favorite places in the whole world. If I could be anywhere for the rest of my life, it’d be here,” she added.
Soon, Reading Quest will showcase one of Kasey’s favorite places in the whole world to the whole world.
Each week, the organization serves 440 young readers in Santa Fe and West Las Vegas, N.M., largely at no cost to students and their families. In April, Reading Quest staff members will make a presentation at the World Literacy Summit in Oxford, England, to an anticipated audience of more than 40,000 people around the globe.
The presentation, Armstrong said, will show the international literacy community the “magic” baked into Reading Quest’s method.
“What makes the program really special is A, we use the science of reading, but B, we make it really fun and engaging,” said Reading Quest Executive Director Rayna Dineen.
Reading Quest’s trained staff leverage the science of reading — a pedagogical model based in explicit and systematic instruction on elements essential to reading, like phonics, comprehension and phonological awareness.
Dineen said it essentially gives students an outline of the “rules of reading” and how to apply them.
“All kids can succeed in reading when they’re given the right support,” she said.
And the science of reading seems to be the right support. Since 2020, the learning model been included in the state Public Education Department’s best practices for improving student literacy, particularly among biliterate and dyslexic students.
But beyond acquainting students with the rules of reading, the program also strives to create an atmosphere where reading is encouraged and enjoyable, Dineen said.
Upon learning to read 100 new words or finishing 10 books, students “level up,” meaning they get a certificate, a prize from the organization’s treasure trove and a new book to read.
Tutoring time revolves around playing games, too. As they played a board game together, reading specialist Hugo Castaneda Serrano and student Daniel Castaneda, 10, occasionally paused play to read and write words from flash cards.
Reading Quest staff members develop trusting relationships with their students, Armstrong said. The tutors ask what books their students are interested in, what television shows they like, what they want to be when they grow up.
“A lot of kids spend time feeling embarrassed or nervous about their reading ability, but we show them that, more than anything, we care about them. And then, hopefully, they’re not so nervous when they read with us,” Armstrong said.
Students seem to feel it. Before reading words like “insightful” and “disruptive” from advanced word cards, Camila Marquez Rico, 10, said she always feels welcome at the Reading Quest hub.
“It’s a safe place where, if I share something private [with the reading specialists], I know that they’re going to keep it between them and me. No one else,” she said.
The organization’s unique combination of fun and phonics works, Dineen said. Assessment data from students at Nina Otero Community School in Santa Fe and Luis E. Armijo Elementary School in Las Vegas collected after one semester in the program show growth far beyond the expected level.
First graders at each school, for instance, improved their test scores by an average of 48 points at Nina Otero and 29 points at Armijo, when anticipated growth averages around 12 points.
This level efficacy — and encouraging enjoyment in reading — is what the Reading Quest staff said they hope to show colleagues from more than 85 countries at the World Literacy Summit in April.
Reading will be a “passport to the future and the world,” Dineen said — for the organization’s staff and students alike.
With some help from Avery Armstrong, a reading specialist, Kasey breezed through the book, sitting on a couch at the headquarters of Santa Fe-based literacy organization Reading Quest. Occasionally, Armstrong paused Kasey as she read aloud to ask comprehension questions or revisit a word.
But there’s a big difference between Wednesday’s Kasey — who could read out complicated narwhal facts with minimal help from Armstrong — and the Kasey who first arrived at Reading Quest.
That Kasey lacked the confidence to read aloud.
“They’ve changed a lot about me,” Kasey said of the Reading Quest staff. “I used to be so nervous about reading out loud. And now, I can do that without even being nervous.
“I love this place. It’s one of my favorite places in the whole world. If I could be anywhere for the rest of my life, it’d be here,” she added.
Soon, Reading Quest will showcase one of Kasey’s favorite places in the whole world to the whole world.
Each week, the organization serves 440 young readers in Santa Fe and West Las Vegas, N.M., largely at no cost to students and their families. In April, Reading Quest staff members will make a presentation at the World Literacy Summit in Oxford, England, to an anticipated audience of more than 40,000 people around the globe.
The presentation, Armstrong said, will show the international literacy community the “magic” baked into Reading Quest’s method.
“What makes the program really special is A, we use the science of reading, but B, we make it really fun and engaging,” said Reading Quest Executive Director Rayna Dineen.
Reading Quest’s trained staff leverage the science of reading — a pedagogical model based in explicit and systematic instruction on elements essential to reading, like phonics, comprehension and phonological awareness.
Dineen said it essentially gives students an outline of the “rules of reading” and how to apply them.
“All kids can succeed in reading when they’re given the right support,” she said.
And the science of reading seems to be the right support. Since 2020, the learning model been included in the state Public Education Department’s best practices for improving student literacy, particularly among biliterate and dyslexic students.
But beyond acquainting students with the rules of reading, the program also strives to create an atmosphere where reading is encouraged and enjoyable, Dineen said.
Upon learning to read 100 new words or finishing 10 books, students “level up,” meaning they get a certificate, a prize from the organization’s treasure trove and a new book to read.
Tutoring time revolves around playing games, too. As they played a board game together, reading specialist Hugo Castaneda Serrano and student Daniel Castaneda, 10, occasionally paused play to read and write words from flash cards.
Reading Quest staff members develop trusting relationships with their students, Armstrong said. The tutors ask what books their students are interested in, what television shows they like, what they want to be when they grow up.
“A lot of kids spend time feeling embarrassed or nervous about their reading ability, but we show them that, more than anything, we care about them. And then, hopefully, they’re not so nervous when they read with us,” Armstrong said.
Students seem to feel it. Before reading words like “insightful” and “disruptive” from advanced word cards, Camila Marquez Rico, 10, said she always feels welcome at the Reading Quest hub.
“It’s a safe place where, if I share something private [with the reading specialists], I know that they’re going to keep it between them and me. No one else,” she said.
The organization’s unique combination of fun and phonics works, Dineen said. Assessment data from students at Nina Otero Community School in Santa Fe and Luis E. Armijo Elementary School in Las Vegas collected after one semester in the program show growth far beyond the expected level.
First graders at each school, for instance, improved their test scores by an average of 48 points at Nina Otero and 29 points at Armijo, when anticipated growth averages around 12 points.
This level efficacy — and encouraging enjoyment in reading — is what the Reading Quest staff said they hope to show colleagues from more than 85 countries at the World Literacy Summit in April.
Reading will be a “passport to the future and the world,” Dineen said — for the organization’s staff and students alike.
Santa Fe Magazine #6
Santa Fe New Mexican article:
Reading can and should be magical
By Rayna Dineen | December 13, 2022
"Do I have to stop reading?"
Maria is a fourth grade student who learned how to read last year, and now she doesn't want to stop reading.
Maria begins her weekly tutoring session by reading aloud from a list her reading specialist creates of words that challenged her in the prior session. Together she and the specialist review phonics reading rules that guide her in figuring out the words: How many vowels are in the word? Is there a "magic e"? Are there "two vowels walking"? Does the vowel say its name, or does it make the "short" sound?
Using American Sign Language for each vowel supports a multisensory practice for the sounds the vowels make.
Next Maria reads a book that reinforces the phonics rules she has already learned while the specialist notes any words that challenge Maria. If she has mastered the rule, the specialist introduces another rule that helps with reading more complex words. Maria and the specialist complete the session by playing a reading game that incorporates writing and spelling.
Maria is a hardworking bilingual student who has thrived with individualized phonics-based support in reading. She is tutored during the school day by Reading Quest at her south-side school.
Reading Quest serves 400 students each week in grades 1-8, mainly from Title 1 schools in Santa Fe and West Las Vegas, in addition to offering professional development workshops for teachers parents and tutors.
We also offer six weeks of free Reading is Magic summer programming in partnership with Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences and Santa Fe Public Schools. Our weekly Afghan Children's program provides a creative literacy program of English classes and reading support for recent Afghan refugee families.
Reading Quest has created an instructional program that closely follows the complex science of how children learn to read English, but does so in a way that is fun, engaging, and "magical" that children who have not been able to master the basics of reading quickly grow into competent, enthusiastic readers.
"Reading Quest has made me feel happy. For once, I actually feel like I have somewhere to fit in. Before I figured out what Reading Quest was, I had a lot of trouble with reading - and when it was my time to read, I couldn't even read one word and everybody would just look at me and say 'She doesn't know how to read and she's in third grade' and so I would never like to be picked [to read aloud]. Reading Quest helped me a lot. Now that I have fully experienced Reading Quest, all I know is that there are multiple kids that are like me that can't pronounce one word and if I ever see a kid like that, I'll tell them 'Reading Quest is the place to go.' "
Maria's spirit and curiosity for learning shines through in everything she does, and we feel lucky to have the opportunity to work with many inspiring students like her every day.
Fortunately, in Santa Fe, our school district recognizes the need for additional individualized support for students who are below grade level in reading proficiency, and has partnered with Reading Quest to deliver tutoring to students.
We deeply appreciate all of the hardworking teachers and principals who partner with us and put their hearts into their work with children every day.
Learning how to read can be joyful and magical. Our experience with over a thousand students has shown us that all students can learn how to read, and once they do, they don't want to stop.
To learn more, visit readingquestcenter.org.
Rayna Dineen is the executive director for Reading Quest. Founded in 2015, Reading Quest provides equitable access to quality reading instruction for all students and empowers them to believe in themselves as they become strong, enthusiastic readers. Let us know if you are interested in attending our next parent workshop Jan. 22.
Maria is a fourth grade student who learned how to read last year, and now she doesn't want to stop reading.
Maria begins her weekly tutoring session by reading aloud from a list her reading specialist creates of words that challenged her in the prior session. Together she and the specialist review phonics reading rules that guide her in figuring out the words: How many vowels are in the word? Is there a "magic e"? Are there "two vowels walking"? Does the vowel say its name, or does it make the "short" sound?
Using American Sign Language for each vowel supports a multisensory practice for the sounds the vowels make.
Next Maria reads a book that reinforces the phonics rules she has already learned while the specialist notes any words that challenge Maria. If she has mastered the rule, the specialist introduces another rule that helps with reading more complex words. Maria and the specialist complete the session by playing a reading game that incorporates writing and spelling.
Maria is a hardworking bilingual student who has thrived with individualized phonics-based support in reading. She is tutored during the school day by Reading Quest at her south-side school.
Reading Quest serves 400 students each week in grades 1-8, mainly from Title 1 schools in Santa Fe and West Las Vegas, in addition to offering professional development workshops for teachers parents and tutors.
We also offer six weeks of free Reading is Magic summer programming in partnership with Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences and Santa Fe Public Schools. Our weekly Afghan Children's program provides a creative literacy program of English classes and reading support for recent Afghan refugee families.
Reading Quest has created an instructional program that closely follows the complex science of how children learn to read English, but does so in a way that is fun, engaging, and "magical" that children who have not been able to master the basics of reading quickly grow into competent, enthusiastic readers.
"Reading Quest has made me feel happy. For once, I actually feel like I have somewhere to fit in. Before I figured out what Reading Quest was, I had a lot of trouble with reading - and when it was my time to read, I couldn't even read one word and everybody would just look at me and say 'She doesn't know how to read and she's in third grade' and so I would never like to be picked [to read aloud]. Reading Quest helped me a lot. Now that I have fully experienced Reading Quest, all I know is that there are multiple kids that are like me that can't pronounce one word and if I ever see a kid like that, I'll tell them 'Reading Quest is the place to go.' "
Maria's spirit and curiosity for learning shines through in everything she does, and we feel lucky to have the opportunity to work with many inspiring students like her every day.
Fortunately, in Santa Fe, our school district recognizes the need for additional individualized support for students who are below grade level in reading proficiency, and has partnered with Reading Quest to deliver tutoring to students.
We deeply appreciate all of the hardworking teachers and principals who partner with us and put their hearts into their work with children every day.
Learning how to read can be joyful and magical. Our experience with over a thousand students has shown us that all students can learn how to read, and once they do, they don't want to stop.
To learn more, visit readingquestcenter.org.
Rayna Dineen is the executive director for Reading Quest. Founded in 2015, Reading Quest provides equitable access to quality reading instruction for all students and empowers them to believe in themselves as they become strong, enthusiastic readers. Let us know if you are interested in attending our next parent workshop Jan. 22.
SONY CREATE ACTION GRANT (click to read the article)
Reading Quest is the August recipient of a Sony Create Action grant. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Reading Quest is a non-profit organization that "provides joyful, quality reading tutoring for striving readers. We empower children to believe in themselves and support them to become strong, enthusiastic readers." Reading Quest received $50,000 in cash to continue and expand their work, a custom short film telling their story, $50,000 in Sony Electronics products to support their action plan, and collaboration and partnership with Sony. Thank you to the amazing filmmaker and storyteller, Jake Miramontez!
Click here to read the full story.
Santa Fe New Mexican:
Santa Fe Summer Reading Camp Brings Books to Life
By Jessica Pollard Education Reporter | July 22, 2021
There is trouble in the Kingdom of the Book of Hope, a place filled with forest-dwelling fairies and unicorns.
The scene is the setting for an elaborate story with an array of medieval characters, from fairies and dragons to court jesters and princesses, uniting under a similar struggle: environmental degradation. The young writers of the original movie script — mostly second and third graders enrolled in a summer reading camp — also star as the motley group, which solves their crisis through teamwork and a magical book.
Dozens of kids in the Reading is Magic Summer Camp donned Middle Ages-themed costumes Thursday as filming began for their project, Tales from the Kingdom of the Magical Book of Hope.
There were lights, cameras, special effects and even a clapboard.
Reading is Magic, a free summer program with several sessions for students of different ages, is organized by the nonprofit Reading Quest in collaboration with Santa Fe Public Schools and the Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences, where the camp is held each year. Participants — students who could use a boost in their reading skills — are selected through the school district and its Native American Student Services program.
Tutors and reading specialists start each camp session with a goal of accelerating students through an entire grade level of reading standards in just two weeks.
Avery Armstrong, a reading specialist for Reading Quest, which offers tutoring services in reading and after-school programs for public school students, said some kids are further behind in English language skills than educators have seen previously, largely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Each year, the camp is centered on the Middle Ages.
“Kids pick up vocabulary really well when it’s about one specific thing,” Armstrong said as campers, hungry after a morning of filming their scenes, went outside for a snack.
“They don’t even realize they’re reading, but they’re reading over and over and over again,” Armstrong added.
She and other reading specialists, along with high school and college tutors, started the camp session last week by getting the kids acclimated to one another.
In the second week, the kids started to work on their film scripts and practice their lines.
By the end of the second week, the students were ready to perform.
Ordinarily, they would put on a live play. But program Director Rayna Dineen said due to the pandemic, the organization chose to film a production at each camp sessions for families to watch from afar. The Native-owned Fox Clan Productions, a local company, is helping with the effort.
The film project, a big hit with the kids, could become an annual tradition.
Alyssa Enriquez, an 8-year-old heading into third grade at Nava Elementary School, plays the part of a hungry wolf aptly named “Wolfie” in this group’s film. She and her fellow wolves are heavily impacted by logging.
“We had to go and help make the forest all better,” she said, “so we could eat and live a normal life again.”
This is Alyssa’s first time participating in Reading Quest’s summer camp.
She used to love it when her mom read her bedtime stories, she said, but when that stopped, reading became a lot harder for her in school.
“My favorite part about camp is learning everything new and having all the challenges of reading,” Alyssa said. She added with a laugh: “I wish we could stay here for like nine more months and skip school.”
Albuquerque Journal North:
Programs Help Kids Avoid Summer 'Brain Drain'
Reading Quest was honored to chat with Brian S. Colón
on his Cafecito con Colón live show!
Cafecito con Colón with Reading Quest! Part I - Brian S. Colón
Cafecito con Colón with Reading Quest! Part II - Brian S. Colón
A loving, resilient Reading Quest family dealing with home insecurity
Hechinger Report: Reading Quest op-ed: Tips on Teaching Reading in the Time of Coronavirus
Spring, 2020 Highlights
One of our graduating senior tutors, Zuleyma Zambrano, was just featured in the SF New Mexican and in
the Hechinger Report. |
Our ambassador in training, Braulio Chavez is recognized in the SF New Mexican for his dedication to service.
Braulio was later featured in Parade and Scholastic Magazines! |
Reading Quest tutors in the News!
Our wonderful Reading Quest teen tutors were featured in the Santa Fe New Mexican!
Journey Santa Fe at Collected Works Bookstore
Reading Quest Director, Rayna Dineen's presentation "Reading is a Human Right"
Reading Quest in the Santa Fe New Mexican!
Reading Quest featured in Tumbleweeds!
Reading Quest on the Richards Eads show!
Reading Quest : Santa Fe Art Institute SFAI140
March 2018
March 2018
On March 18, 2018, Zulyema Zambrano, an amazing Reading Quest Tutor, and our courageous young student, Braulio Chavez, both represented Reading Quest at SFAI140 along with director, Rayna Dineen.
Thank you Santa Fe Art Institute for inviting us!
Thank you Santa Fe Art Institute for inviting us!
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CONTACT INFO
Executive Director: Rayna Dineen
Phone: 505-920-9709
Email: [email protected]
Mailing Address (for mailing only):
Reading Quest PMB # 652
369 Montezuma Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501-2626
501(c)3 #47-3350742