This week, we completed 470 tutoring sessions, and I expect by the end of the school year we will complete over a 500 sessions! As I consider the work that we were able to do this year, I am very pleased. I think for our first year in operation, we have done really well.
Next year, there are couple programs I am hoping to add; programs that we’ve wanted to do from the beginning, but it just never worked out. First, as mentioned last week, I’d like to spend time at the school volunteering to help those students that are falling behind in their grade level. When I was a teacher, each year, I had 4-5 students that were struggling and with all the work that is expected of teachers, it is difficult to spend as much time working with those students as you’d like. Next year, if I can help by working with these students in their classrooms, or pulling them out, not only will it benefit the students, but it will also help the teachers as well.
Other programs I hope we can add are more enrichment based programs. There were times throughout this year that I was hoping we’d be able to include them in our programming, but the logistics never really panned out. Now that I have a year of managing LIST under my belt, I feel like I can attack the idea of such programs more easily. One of the first things I will do this summer is to create a calendar of events which I will post on our website; on this I will schedule enrichment Saturdays.
Overall, however, I am very pleased with our first year of work. The changes I’ve seen in so many students and the help we have been able to provide is extremely fulfilling; I know that LIST is making a difference in the lives of the students of our neighborhood!
