The college of education at a midwestern university has designed a program for training senior citizen volunteers to tutor elementary school students in reading and language arts. Development of the Time Of Our Lives for Service (T. O. O. L. S.) program included establishing goals and objectives for the program that were subject to administrative approval, selecting program leaders, drafting a volunteer training handbook, and recruiting senior volunteers. Volunteers receive training in several language arts areas, including selecting children's literature, storytelling, workbook skill instruction, sight vocabulary development, and phonics. The training sessions are very informal, so that the volunteers remain comfortable and at ease. After observing a classroom for several days, the volunteers are placed according to their skills and the needs of a specific classroom and begin tutoring for two hours a week. The project resource person is available to tutors for assistance in the form of materials and guidance. Many volunteers are honored by their teachers and students with gifts and parties. Every effort is made to make the volunteers feel useful and welcome. The volunteers receive an invaluable sense of self-worth and personal satisfaction by helping children learn to read, and by knowing that their spare time is well spent. (HTH)