Retired St. Charles teacher launches novel way of giving back

This summer, 10 students in St. Charles will receive free tutoring through the Amy Kappele Summer Reading Adventure.

St. Charles native, alumna of St. Charles School District 303 and longtime elementary school teacher Amy Kappele retired this spring at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.

The Summer Reading Adventure is a legacy scholarship program established this year that provides eight weeks of summer tutoring to 10 St. Charles elementary school students.

The program was established in honor of Kappele’s retirement after 24 years of teaching in District 303. During her career, she taught kindergarten and first grade in multiple elementary schools and spent the majority of her career as a reading specialist.

“I grew up here and then I taught here, so it’s just a way to keep involved and keep helping kids,” Kappele said. “The biggest reason is obviously just my love for St. Charles, D-303, the students and their families, or I wouldn’t be doing it.”

The program began in June, and all 10 students will finish in August.

The tutoring is administered by Learning Ascent, an independent tutoring business in St. Charles. Owner and tutor Jenna Hancock worked with Kappele on the program and agreed to provide the tutoring at a special rate.

“I just love that it’s all within the community,” Kappele said “And I love that [Hancock] is willing to put the work in on her end to help me.”

Reading specialists at each of District 303’s elementary schools identified struggling readers who were eligible for the scholarship and referred them to Kappele.

Going forward, the scholarship will rely on fundraising efforts for the program during the school year. Kappele said while she is enjoying her first summer of retirement, she is already thinking about planning fundraising efforts for next year’s program.

“The goal is to do different fundraising things during the school year to keep funding it for as long as I can,” Kappele said.

Kappele’s partner Curt Rothlisberger had the idea to start the program to celebrate her retirement and honor her lifelong devotion to reading in a way that allows her to stay connected to the community.

“[Kappele] has always been part of the community,” Rothlisberger said. “As she was retiring, I thought it would be a good idea to start something that keeps her rooted in her passion and within her community...If there’s anybody who can keep the ball rolling on this, it’s her.”

Kappele has been heavily involved in literacy programs throughout her career, both in schools and out. Some of her notable work included starting an annual district book drive that ran for 13 years. She also took a mission trip to Nicaragua with Christ Community Church, where she taught early literacy workshops to Nicaraguan teachers and students.

Rothlisberger described Kappele as a passionate, engaged and enthusiastic person who cares a lot about what she does.

“Amy has a lifelong passion for reading,” Rothlisberger said. “You really have to be someone who enjoys it and realizes it makes a difference, and that’s sort of the DNA of Amy.”

Hancock said when Kappele first shared the idea for the program, she was moved by the concept and honored to be trusted with tutoring scholarship recipients.

“What a testament to her partner and his belief in the work she’s been doing all these years in the district. For him to want to, in her name, provide a legacy of service like that, it was touching to me,” Hancock said. “I was very excited to have been the one that she reached out to to provide the service.”

Hancock said the program is important because it provides equitable learning opportunities to underserved families. She hopes Learning Ascent can continue to be part of it for years to come.

“What this is doing is providing the same opportunity to families that otherwise would not be able to afford to keep their students in an education setting throughout the summer,” Hancock said. “These are students who really need this kind of service, and this is really helping them to start next school year off on a strong footing.”

Rothlisberger said the program provides a service that many families need, but not all can afford.

“It really does, I think, make a difference, that there’s resources out there to help parents and kids...Every parent would love to do it, but not everybody can afford that extra help,” Rothlisberger said. “Providing scholarships helps remove some of the barriers and goes a long way in helping make that possible.”

Kappele said her goal for next year is to offer a scholarship to one student at all 11 elementary schools again. Organizers hope the program will grow in time.