Last school year, before LIST was in operation, I tutored a student at my house as a favor to a teacher friend of mine. At that time, the student was in first grade and was in danger of being retained. I worked with him two days a week and was able to help keep him from being retained. This school year, I worried about how he would do in second grade; a summer is a long time to be off and I didn’t know if he would continue practicing reading and math skills. This week, he came to LIST for the first time and I was pleased to see that while he needs to practice reading, his math skills are stellar! Once we open after the holidays, he will come two days a week and I am confident I can help him come up to speed. Personally, it was great to see that the hard work we put in last year was not lost and that he is doing pretty well.
As I reflect on the past 2 plus months of operation, I am so pleased at how much we have been able to serve our community. As of today, December 12, 2008, we have completed over 180 tutoring sessions! We have helped an age range from kindergarten to junior in high school. We’ve also been a computer resource for students needing to type their reports and/or do research online. In addition, we are also serving people outside our immediate community as well.
We also have a lot to look forward to with the coming year. We will be starting some Saturday, supplemental classes; most likely once a month or every other month depending on what we can arrange. Classes will include science classes, perhaps a LIST choir and maybe art classes and photography classes. On a smaller note, I’d like to add some more educational games to our program. If a student finishes their homework, or sometimes comes without homework, we’ll play games with them. It would be great to extend the number and variety of games to play.
Also, we’ve got some exciting fund raisers being planned including an improve night brought to us by L.A. Connections Theater, our Second Annual Jazz Event (this will probably be held sometime at the end of April) and a Back to School Bash the end of August.. We will also ramp up our efforts in seeking government and private foundation grants.
Once again, I’d like to thank everyone that has been involved through financial donations and through volunteering. Without you, I would not have such great reports to share each week.
Due to the school schedule and the upcoming holidays, LIST will not be open again until January 5th, therefore, my next post will not be until January 9th. I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday season.
