One Powerful Moment

by Timm Dowling, Resource Development Executive & Lindsey Burks, Marketing Intern

As the son of a public educator and product of our education system, I know that a major obstacle for learning is classroom size. Upwards of twenty or thirty students per teacher can become a barrier, not just for the teacher but for every student. Even if every student was prepared to learn and paid attention, they still have their own unique learning challenges and styles. Add to the mix an assortment of disabilities, family crises and social distractions, it becomes a wonder how teachers manage to transfer knowledge to their students’ brains. That’s where tutors can really make a difference.

Sarah, an AmeriCorp tutor, was asked by the principal at an elementary school to help two struggling students, a second grader and third grader, whom had recently enrolled in the school for the first time. Both lacked basic skills like number and letter recognition, so keeping up with their peers was near impossible. Their teachers simply could not devote the time necessary to get them caught up, and did not want to cause embarrassment by placing them in the kindergarten level classes. The Principal proposed that Sarah come to the school and tutor them one-on-one every day to give them the tools they needed to be integrated back into their classes. With the materials and lesson plans provided by their teachers, Sarah began meeting with the students for an hour each day to tackle math and reading basics. In four months, the students have made amazing progress. The third grader is grasping math concepts such as addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Both can count to 100 and are progressing to counting to 1,000. Sarah's most powerful moment, the moment that made her experience as a tutor completely worthwhile, was listening to the second grader read the first two pages of Cat in the Hat aloud to her. Despite their disadvantages at the beginning of the school year, the students were able to continue their education at a normal rate and it is no longer a question whether success is in their futures, but rather it is something they look forward to.

You do not have to be an AmeriCorp member to make a positive impact on a child’s life; you simply must have the desire to improve someone’s life and the gusto to act. Tutoring is a worthwhile endeavor, meaningful for both the tutor and the student. Get in touch with our Volunteer Center to learn more about how to become a tutor.

For more information contact Cindy Evans, Senior Volunteer Center Associate, at CindyE@uwpc.org or 253-597-6457.