Volunteer Spotlight: Brent Gross

When did you first start volunteering with The Literacy Council of Frederick County and what made you decide to do so?

I started volunteering in February 2020 shortly after I retired. I chose to volunteer at the Literacy Council because I wanted to find a way to help others, and I felt tutoring was something I could learn to become proficient at whereas a physically demanding volunteering requirement would not be a good match for my limited motor capabilities (disability) as the result of a stroke many years ago.

What kind of volunteering do you do with us? Please describe a meaningful experience that you have had while volunteering.

I do one-on-one ESL and basic literacy tutoring, and lead high beginner/low intermediate community conversation classes.

I have had a few meaningful experiences but not one single experience that stands out. I had a basic literacy student who was 67 years old and unable to say the alphabet when we began to work together. Upon seeing this student at one of the Baker Park summer concerts, she hugged me, danced with my wife, and happily recited the alphabet perfectly. One ESL student I have been seeing kept her head down and almost never made a sound when we first started working together. Now she greets me in clearly understandable English and asks me how I am doing.

What is something that you have learned as a volunteer for the Literacy Council that you would like to share with our volunteer community?

I have learned we need to be appreciative and understanding of the incredible pressures some of our students face in navigating in a community not of their native language. One thing I have learned is the value of sending reminder texts to students the day before a lesson with all the details of the meeting (date time, and location). Early in my tutoring, I had quite a few no-shows or very late arrivals after reserving a study room, preparing a lesson, and going to the library. I found that sending a reminder text practically eliminated no-shows and motivated the students to respond with a text if they were running late or needed to reschedule.

What do you like to do when you’re not volunteering with us? 

In addition to the Literacy Council, I volunteer at Frederick Health Hospital – at the same-day surgery desk, at the information badging desk, and I edit the volunteer auxiliary newsletter. For the Mental Health Association of Frederick County, I am a supervised visitation volunteer monitor, a role in which I record the activities and communication in visits between children and their non-residential parent.  For hobbies, I enjoy reading non-fiction, following my original hometown (Ohio) and new hometown (Maryland) sports teams, attending local shows (concerts and speaker series) at the Weinberg, the summer concert series at Baker Park, as well as concerts at the Birchmere in Alexandria and Rams Head Live On stage in Annapolis. I also like to try local restaurants and attend community festivals.