LAGUNA NIGUEL

Seven first-graders at Marian Bergeson Elementary who have been identified as at-risk readers are receiving one-on-one tutoring from employees at the Laguna Hills Costco. The tutoring partnership was developed by the company in 1997 as an offshoot of a program for employees’ children, said Laguna Niguel program leader Tessie Dickerson. The Laguna Hills store is one of only two in South County providing volunteers from its ranks to teach students.

Teachers selected students who needed extra help but were not being served by the school’s remedial reading program. Each tutor spends an hour a week working with a student, using games that provide auditory, visual and kinetic clues to improve students’ reading.