Tennessee Tutoring Corps at Emerald Youth
This summer, Emerald Youth Foundation had the opportunity to receive 11 tutors as a part of the Tennessee Tutoring Corps, funded by former Governor Bill and Crissy Haslam. The tutors were placed with students at eight of our JustLead church partners locations throughout Knoxville, and overall, 45 students were placed with tutors for a total of five weeks. The program also placed tutors with Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley.
Tutors during orientation with Emerald Youth staff.
Tutoring began June 15, with orientation and Emerald Youth-specific training. Tutors were then launched to their sites to begin forming connections and building relationships with their assigned students. The tutors knew that the first priority was to build these relationships.
Over the course of their time, our tutors noted successes and gains that they observed in students while working with them in both math and language arts.
As the Education Specialist at Emerald Youth Foundation, I had the pleasure of overseeing our Tennessee Tutoring Corps program and the tutors who served with us. Throughout their five weeks with us, I was able to see them in action, respond to questions about how to best serve their specific students, and hear their stories of growth and success that they noted in their students.
Tutor Kensi Gray, a student at the University of South Carolina, shared this about her tutoring experience:
“The best part of tutoring was seeing the students master concepts that they previously struggled with or had never learned before. It was so exciting for them and me when they got a challenging math problem correct or remembered a word that they previously could not read. Their confidence in their learning abilities and desire to get the questions right grew as time went on, and it was very exciting to see.”
As a part of the program, students were administered a pre-test and post-test to measure growth in each subject area, both in language arts and math.
After analyzing the test data, we concluded that 72% of students showed growth in at least one subject area. With only a five week period, we were pleased that we saw an average growth of 47 points in math and 11 points in language arts.
The hope for this program was that students would be engaged in academic activity to prevent further loss of material due to the COVID slide. For many of our students who were already academically behind grade-level peers, this time with tutors was something they desperately needed now more than ever.
In addition to the measurable growth, other highlights include:
One tutor shared the success of using music to motivate a student who was struggling with reading. When the student was done reading a page, he would make it into a song with the help of the ukulele. By the end, he was not only reading the stories, he was also creating additional endings to them.
Tutors also got creative to help their students learn multiplication facts. One used a pool table to create a game, and another used drawings and other visual strategies.
Many of the tutors found that incorporating student interests and games into the learning environment was highly successful.
We are incredibly thankful to the Bill and Crissy Haslam Foundation for funding this program that brought our students tutors who were ready to invest in the lives of young people.
“My mindset after this experience is different because I now have a new understanding of different types of learners, as well as classroom management. I think teachers learn from students every day,” said tutor Caitlin Boruff, who attends the University of Tennessee.
This statement describes how often we are present to change the lives of children, but often they change ours at the same time.
Another tutor, Sloan Newton, from University of Alabama, Huntsville, shared:
“This experience has been revealing, opening my eyes to the real needs of children in our community and the real ways to serve those needs. My perspective on serving has changed too; I am now certain we should all make a habit of it, not just doing it when the opportunity presents itself.”
The young people served this summer, and many more in Emerald Youth’s programs, could greatly benefit from the constant support of a tutor. As we work to provide our students with individualized support to meet academic goals and strive to have our students performing on grade level, we need tutors to help us do that.
Tennessee Tutoring Corps provided us with the gift of providing this for so many of our students. Going forward, we would love to increase the number tutors we have placed within our programs.
If you are interested in becoming a tutor, check out our volunteer page.