8/31/2017 Working Together: Brad's StorySTAFF NOTE: Although many of our tutors are former teachers, great tutors come from a variety of backgrounds. Our tutor Brad currently works for one of the largest companies in Dayton. He volunteers one morning per month tutoring residents of the Montgomery County Court’s Secure Transitional Offender Program (STOP) as they prepare for the High School Equivalency Exam. Offenders who improve their literacy while serving their sentence are better prepared for a life free of drugs and crime upon their release. The first day I showed up to tutor at the STOP program felt like my first day of 9th grade. I was full of nervous excitement due to the fact that I didn’t know what I didn’t know. However, after working with the staff, other volunteers and residents of STOP, I knew I would enjoy this opportunity. Helping the residents of STOP study for their GED has been a very rewarding experience and I am learning a lot at the same time. Recently, I tutored a resident that had failed the GED test the first time in large part to the Quadratic Equation. Our tutoring time was spent working on this concept and I had no clue how to do it for the first 30 minutes. However, the two of us worked on it together for the remaining hour and a half, both coming to a better understanding of the Quadratic Formula.
I left that day thinking about how rewarding it was to learn this concept while also helping someone else learn it. Even more rewarding was the email I received two days later when the Brunner staff told me that this resident passed their GED! That email is one of the best I have ever received. I only volunteer 2 hours a month and wasn’t sure how much I could do in those two hours to help the residents but after hearing about the successful attainment of a GED, I realized that it didn’t matter how much time you volunteered, but what you did with that time.
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8/17/2017 Welcome back!If you are like me, it may seem like the past school year just ended. However the ads in the newspaper and on television indicate that the start of a new academic year is just a matter of days or weeks away. Here are some ideas for you to consider as you make plans for that all-important first day:
After school activities, sponsored by the school or other organizations, require careful planning as well. Sometimes children can be involved in too many activities. As a parent, you have the best understanding of what is “too much” for your child. I remember an eighth-grade student bemoaning that he never had time just “to be” because it seemed like every minute was filled with activity. This young man just wanted some time when he didn’t have “to do” anything. As adults we often feel that same way, don’t we? It is so important that you and your child plan for time just “to be.” Parents, you are an essential member of your child’s educational team….home and school working together make all the difference in the world! |
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