MURFREESBORO – As an attorney, Tonza Ruffin Buffaloe has personally and professionally seen how the lack of reading skills may lead to a life of crime.

Instead of watching one young African-American male after another being added to the prison population, she has opted to do something to help reverse that troubling trend.

Such is the case in the founding of Esquires for Education Inc., a group of adult volunteers who use their free time to mentor to teens.

Buffaloe stated that third graders who lack proficiency in reading are four times more likely to become high school dropouts. She added that only 45 percent of African-American males graduate from high school in the United States; and that only 31 percent of African-American children can read at grade level in the 4th grade

“In order to combat these alarming statistics, Esquires for Education Inc. has started a Reading Readiness Program,” Buffaloe said. “It is designed to improve literacy and reduce the rate of young African American boys that become high school dropouts.  In the program, volunteers will be working one on one with the participants to improve their reading skills.”

Buffaloe said the Reading Readiness Program will have a site in Windsor, Murfreesboro, and Halifax and will be open from 5-7 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday. The program begins Sept. 16.

Esquires for Education Inc. is looking for volunteers that are passionate about education to work in the Reading Readiness program.

“If you are not concerned about the alarming statistics as it relates to education, simply spend a day observing criminal court in your local courtroom,” Buffaloe noted.  “It is time for our community to wake up and be proactive about moving in a direction that focuses on education instead of incarceration.”

For more information on the Reading Readiness Program,  send an email to esq@esquiresforeducation.org or come by one of the sites: Murfreesboro location is the Ruffin Law Firm at 207 East Main Street; and the Windsor location is Ruffin Law Firm, 102 East Granville Street.