|
|
Empowering
Darke
County Youth
provides After School and Summer Tutoring programs
to assist students in the areas of language arts and math
with the goal of
Strong Students for a Strong Community.
Empowering Darke County Youth
We
need YOU!
Fundraising •
Volunteering • Donations • Snacks & Supplies
Find out how you can help: empoweringyouth101@gmail.com
Facebook: Empowering Darke County Youth
P.O. Box 1113, Greenville,
Ohio 45331
c/o Tribute Funeral Homes, 1000 N. Broadway,
Greenville, Ohio 45331
|
|
Empowering
Darke County Youth is a United Way Partner Agency
Please
thank the United Way, our Sponsors and our Donors for their support
Diamond Sponsors
Darke County United Way •
Greenville Eagles
2177
Platinum
Sponsors
Harry D. Stephens Memorial
• Bistro Off Broadway
Lydia Schaurer Memorial Trust • Ketrow Foundation
Tribute Funeral Homes
Service & Support
Rapid Printing • Edison
State Community College
Greenville City School District • Ed Ault, CPA
Gold Sponsors
Dave
Knapp Ford Lincoln
Zechar Bailey Funeral Home
Silver
Sponsors
Greenville
National Bank
• Second National Bank
Ramco
Electric Motors • Rotary Club of Greenville
Lambda Chi Omega Society • First
Presbyterian Church
Bronze
Sponsors
Kiwanis
of Greenville
• Littman Thomas Agency
MJS Plastics • Mark & Cindy
Libert
• Scott
Zumbrink
Rolling 50s Car Club • Al
& Lyn
Bliss
Empowering Display Sponsors
Bistro
Off Broadway
• Greenville Eagles 2177 • Leis Realty
Medicine & More • Second National Bank •
Tribute Funeral Homes
Dave Knapp Ford Lincoln • Littman Thomas Agency
Hothead Burritos • Furniture Express • Flaig
Lumber
Zechar Bailey Funeral
Home • Rapid
Printing
Empowering
Donors
Whirlpool
Corporation
• Al & Barbara Greiner • Aktion Club
Greenville Federal Bank •
Eileen
Litchfield
Families of
Students being Tutored
Empowering
Darke County Youth Board of Directors
Eric Fee, President
Susi Halley, Vice President
Rhonda Williams, Secretary
Lyn Bliss, Treasurer
Kay Sloat, Assistant Program Coordinator
Chelsea Jones, Volunteer Coordinator
Board
Members
Doreen Larson, Jody Harter, Amanda Olson
Jerrod Newland, Melissa Eve, Brittany Ullman
Executive
Director
Bob Robinson
|
Empowering Darke County Youth... About Us
Dedicated to
empowering the kids in our community
By Bob Robinson, Program Coordinator
Updated March 17, 2018
A multitude of sources, including Education Week, Reading Horizons, the
Ohio Department of Education (ODE) and more, indicate students who are
unable to read at grade level by the end of third grade are more likely
to become high school drop-outs. Factors such as poverty – as found in
many areas of Darke County – increase this likelihood.
According to ODE, students who read at their grade level by the third
grade are five times as likely to be college-bound or ready for their
career employment choices. Put another way, that means those who can’t
read at their grade level are five times LESS likely to reach their
goals. Assuming they have any at that point. ODE further notes a full
one-third of all students entering college require remedial courses in
order to meet the demands of college work. This lack of basics for
college-bound students does not translate well for those just trying to
get through high school.
For eight years I was privileged to be a founding director of the
Senior Scribes Scholarship Fund. This organization, among others,
provided
scholarships to talented, high-achieving young people, many of whom
have been students of mine. I am proud of them and their
accomplishments. These young people have mostly been high-achievers
throughout their primary and secondary educational careers. At
the same time, I tutor many college students who need remedial support
to meet their educational goals.
In Darke County, as many as one out of 10 students either don’t
graduate on time, or end up dropping out of school. Considerable focus
is now being placed on these at-risk high school students. These
programs are immensely important. There also needs to be a focus,
however, for intervention BEFORE a student reaches that point. A
significant area of a child’s learning, self-worth and development is
gained in the primary grades of kindergarten through four. This is also
a time when a child who, for a variety of reasons, may not get the
mentoring and support needed outside of school.
As one teacher recently put it… “If a child is having difficulty in
kindergarten and isn’t helped at that point, the lack of success will
build each year as the child struggles through his or her grade levels.
Eventually it will become engrained. It is easier to address those
needs in a child’s early years.” This teacher – and her fellow teachers
– are talented and dedicated. I have substituted in the classrooms of
most of them. It is literally impossible to give the one-on-one
dedication some children might require in a class of 25 or more
students. Schools do the best they can with limited resources. An
additional support system of some kind is needed for these “at-risk”
children.
I’ve
been a substitute teacher working with these kids for six years.
I’ve been tutoring at the primary and secondary level for the last four
years. I quickly discovered the needs went beyond my ability
to meet them. All of this came to light in March of 2016, to some
extent
due to a mother whose children I had worked with. She insisted other
children receive the same help her children had received.
As a result, Empowering Darke County Youth was formed. At that time II
was
working with eight elementary students, two more than I’d originally
intended. Volunteers began working with another two. The following
summer, seven
tutors worked with 43 students at the Greenville Library. I can’t begin
to thank Director John Vehre and his staff enough for making their
facility available to us.
As fall approached we knew many of these students would continue to
need help. Fewer hours were available for one-on-one tutoring, and many
more students would need an extra boost, help with homework or both.
Frankly, how to handle the needs of a potentially large number of
students was overwhelming. As generous as the library has been, there
was a concern that too many students would interfere with its
operations. Fortunately, thanks to Dean Chad Beanblossom, Edison State
Community College, Darke County Campus, and Greenville City Schools,
there is a solution… Edison State students provide a volunteer base for
the program, the needed
space is available at the Edison State DCC and the transportation there
was provided by GCSD.
An
After School Program was established to provide a place
where kids could come for tutoring, mentoring, shared reading and
writing, indoor games and activities and more. By November 2016, 59
students were enrolled. Some were tutored in the
basics they need to succeed at their grade level. Many
simply used the place – with help available – for their homework.
Our student to
adult ratio ranged from 3 to 1 to 5 to 1. Our goal is 2 to 1;
volunteers are needed.
The 2017-18 program moved to the new Greenville K-8 campus, and is
currently available to students from K-8. Edison State continues to
offer its students, many of whom are going to school for elementary
education. It is a win-win situation. Due to the success of the
previous year's programs, demand for Empowering services nearly
doubled, overwhelming our ability to meet all the needs. There were 79
requests for the After School Program the first week alone, and a
waiting list had to be established. Similar requests exceeded our
resources for our countywide Summer Tutoring Program. We need
additional help.
It
is a tremendous undertaking and will require significant resources
for state-approved paid adults, volunteers, supplies, reading and
writing materials and more. Empowering Darke County Youth is a
United Way community service organization. We have seated a Board of
Directors to
help guide the implementation of this program. Empowering Darke County
Youth was designated a 501c3 non-profit organization by the Internal
Revenue Service in September, 2016.
Our
Board currently includes President Eric Fee, owner of Tribute Funeral
Homes, Vice President Kendra Chalmers,
concerned parent, Treasurer Susie Miller, Edison State DCC Resource
Specialist, Secretary Rhonda Williams, OSU Extension, Doreen Larson,
president Edison State Community College, Jody Harter, principal
Woodland Heights Primary, Bob Robinson, Edison State
instructor and substitute teacher, Melissa Eve, Edison State Instructor
and Resources Specialist, and Michael Chalmers, concerned parent. We
are proud of
the group of adults that has come together for these kids.
For a variety of reasons the needs of Darke County’s young people are
tremendous. This undertaking will only be scratching the surface, but
it is a start. We want – and need – your help.
The Empowering Mission: Empowering Darke County Youth is a United Way
Partner Agency providing After School and Summer Tutoring programs to
assist students in the areas of language arts and math with the goal of
Strong Students for a Strong Community.
For more information or to ask how you can help, contact us at empoweringdarkecountyyouth@gmail.com
or message us on our Facebook page, Empowering Darke County Youth.
Editor’s
Note: This
is the summary – updated – that I wrote in March 2016 to explain the
concept
when the Empowering Darke County Youth organization was established.
|
Return to Empowering Darke County Youth
News & Information... Click Here
See what Edison Student Volunteers have to say about the After School
Program... Click Here |
|
|
|
|
