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An
Edison State Communications student works with a Greenville
Elementary student this fall. Social
Distancing and other health
guidelines are maintained for the safety of all volunteers,
supervisors
and students.
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Empowering
Tutoring: An Amazing Project
Edison State students comment on their volunteer tutoring experience
“The After School Program is an amazing group of people who come
together to help kids who are behind in their academics.” This was the
opinion of one of several Edison State students who participated in the
After School Program at Greenville Elementary School.
Another student said it meant a lot to her to see the progress the kids
she worked with each week. “Seeing them remember words we spent extra
time on,” she noted, “and seeing them fix their mistakes, hearing them
talk about what they learned in class and using it to help them figure
things out was amazing to watch.”
Seventeen Edison State Fundamentals of Communication students worked
195 hours with 18 first, second and third grade students at Greenville
Elementary School. Participation in the program was not required. It
was offered as an alternative to the traditional research project and
final exam, and based upon the concept that actual experience in
communication learning goals presented a “real world” opportunity that
research and textbooks couldn’t match.
In the college class, students learn that good communication skills
require the ability to understand and interact with different
personalities from different backgrounds, and with different
educational needs. Volunteer tutors, under qualified tutor supervision,
quickly learned that not all students learn the same way. Some need
help with reading, others with math, some even with both. Approaches
often required coming up with different ways to engage them. Regardless
of the need, volunteers work to reinforce the efforts of the student’s
teachers and support staff.
The communications students liked the idea that they could participate
in helping a younger child learn.
“I think that this is a great idea to have young people come and teach
students and help them get their homework done,” said one college
tutor. “I was in a similar after school program in elementary school,
and I think that it would have been more fun and interesting if local
college kids were able to come help us,” she added.
While noting the value to their own growth, the students choosing the
tutoring program also understood the value to families and the
community.
“This program helps a lot of kids out that may be struggling in the
classroom or just need some extra help that mom and dad cannot give
them,” said one student. “I believe it is a high quality program with
good intentions for the students at Greenville Elementary School. It
has value to students and parents, also the community, because it shows
that the school, and young adults, care about these children and want
to see them succeed.
“There are many positive things that this program does,” he continued.
“It helps struggling young students and gives college students the
opportunity to learn how to deal with certain situations and real world
educational needs.”
“I thought that it was great for personal character building, and that
I could make a difference in a struggling child's life,” said another
student.
“Going into this experience I was optimistic,” said the volunteer, who
is a recent high school graduate. “I wasn’t sure what it was going to
be like, but I knew I wanted to make a difference. In my opinion,
Empowering Darke County Youth is a great program.”
Empowering Darke County Youth currently has After School Programs in
three Darke County School Districts. The Edison State students
volunteer, under supervision, at Greenville Elementary School. Efforts
are underway to include Greenville Middle School students after the
Christmas break. Ansonia uses its high school students, under staff
supervision, to help students in grades 1 through 6. Arcanum-Butler
uses a classroom format conducted by two staff members and a high
school volunteer, to help students in grades 5 through 8.
If you would like to know more about Empowering programs, or how you
can help, email empoweringyouth101@gmail.com. You can also find
Empowering on Facebook, at its website, empowerdarkecounty.com, or by
mail: P.O. Box 1113, Greenville, OH 45331.
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