That's the idea behind the Community Reading Buddies project, in which teenage tutors help younger nonnative English speakers develop skills and confidence with the language.

The Community Reading Buddies project is looking for teenagers as young as entering sixth-graders to volunteer. They will work one-on-one or in small groups with 100 Latino children who will be entering preschool through fourth grade at the main campus and the annex of Centro Infantil De La Raza in East Oakland. As in years past, more than 130 teenagers are expected to sign up as reading buddies this year.

Nancy McKee-Jolda, a Piedmont learning specialist working in private practice, started the program 11 years ago when she and her daughter, then a middle school student, noticed so many children at the Oakland library who needed help with reading. For the first three years, the program was held at Oakland's main library before moving to Centro Infantil De La Raza, which is part of the Oakland Unified School District.

Tutoring is not limited to reading books. The teens will use visuals or do other classroom activities, such as playing board games or puppets, to get children to talk in English. They also play outdoor games with the kids. Encouraged to take initiative, the tutors have introduced science, art, dance, cooking, sports and music.

Tutors and the children get to know each other.

"It's in the relationships that conversation comes," said McKee-Jolda.

Some of the teens may volunteer because their parent wanted them to do it, but each person ends up connecting with a child.

"They all learn and become good, young adults, more mature and kinder even among their peers," said McKee-Jolda. "They are taking care of children and that is a special thing to do."

The program operates on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. starting June 19 and running through Aug. 9. The volunteers, who traditionally have been mostly Piedmont residents, must commit to tutor and mentor at least two weeks. Parents must be willing to car pool. Applications are due May 26 and are available at the Piedmont Middle School library or the Piedmont High School College-Career Center.

There is a training meeting before each session to acquaint the tutors with the materials, various reading and writing techniques, and interpersonal skills. The Teen Leadership Team and the college intern, along with McKee-Jolda, guide the teens and children. A Centro teacher also helps supervise.

McKee-Jolda interviews participants for the leadership team, made up of senior tutors who mentor the other tutors. To qualify to be in the leadership team, the teens must be entering their sophomore year in high school and have been a reading buddy for two years already.

Two members of the leadership team are Piedmont High students and sisters Laura and Kim Huppert, who have been reading buddies since the summer after the sixth grade.

Laura, a senior who is going to Harvard University in the fall and wants to stay involved with Community Reading Buddies, said she has learned to teach and be a leader.

She said teaching students isn't always easy because students have different needs and different ways of learning.

"But that's what makes it rewarding -- figuring out the best way to teach each kid," said Laura, who also sprinkled science into the program because she wanted to pass on her love of the discipline to the little ones.

Kim, who is a year younger than Laura, said she enjoys seeing kids grow from being quiet and timid at the beginning of the summer to being enthusiastic and excited about learning by the end.

Both sisters said they appreciate working with kids in a community that is near their neighborhood and yet so different.

"People want to help and go to Mexico," Laura said. "Right in our backyard, there are people we can help so much."