By Deloris Tarzan, other
The most beautiful sound in the world is the “Ooooh!” of sudden understanding,
volunteers in the Study Buddy Program will tell you. It’s usually accompanied by a light in the eyes that tells the tutor they’ve helped with another small leap of learning for a student who’s been having trouble.
Eighty Study Buddy volunteers each contribute one hour a week to tutor students from kindergarten to 8th grade in reading, writing, and mathematics. Those we talked to love their work.
One day last month, a student at John Stanford International School, where Art Siegal is tutoring, asked if he could come twice a week instead of only once. It made Siegal’s day. Both he and his wife Alice, members of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, tutor kids in the program. But Art has a particularly long track record. Seven years ago, before the Study Buddy program was officially launched, he chaired the B’nai B’rith committee that initiated the pilot program.
Begun initially with an Americorps grant, and funding from the Jewish Federation, the Study Buddy Program’s $30,000 annual budget now is funded in equal parts by Evergreen Region B’nai B’rith, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, and a private grant. Lisa Smith is the Jewish Federation’s coordinator for the program.
“We work with students at seven elementary and secondary schools, chosen because they have high at-risk student populations,” Smith says. “Studies have shown that children from middle-class homes log from 1,000 to 1,700 hours of one-on-one book time with an adult each year. Children from low-income homes get an average of 15 hours. We try to fill in that gap.”
“Kids need the best help they can possibly get and schools are the central place for them to get it,” says Jerry Richard, a freelance writer and former professor of English literature who began volunteering last year to help two fifth-grade students become better writers. This year, he’s tutoring kids who have trouble learning. Jerry and his wife Carolyn both volunteer for the program.
“For me, this is a natural,” says Carolyn, who comes from years of teaching English as a Second Language. “I love to teach, and I love kids. Now that I’m retired, I have more time for it. I especially like middle-school kids. It’s such a hard time in their lives; they’re under such pressure because they’re maturing so fast.” Recently she was delighted to discover that a particularly shy student shows promise as a poet. She arranged for one of the girl’s poems to be printed in the school paper.
It’s the kind of encouragement that can mark a turning point in the life of a student who has had difficulty keeping up in class.
Alice Siegal says, “The Study Buddy Program is a splendid opportunity to help children with special needs, so they can make progress in school, and not drop out. One-on-one tutoring really makes a difference. The satisfaction comes with seeing their slow, steady improvement on a weekly basis.”
This semester Alice is tutoring a 7th grader at Hamilton Middle School who has been diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder [ADD]. Because he’s unable to filter out distractions in a busy room, he has trouble focusing in the classroom. When Alice arrives, they do something different. “We go into the library and work on math,” she says. “Right now he’s learning decimals and fractions.”
Like most Study Buddy volunteers, she comes well qualified. She has taught social studies and language arts, worked as a school counselor, and taught career education classes. Until last September, she worked in the senior services department at Jewish Family Service.
Art Siegal is a retired electrical engineer and former director of facilities for the Group Health Cooperative, who has also served as executive director for Temple De Hirsch Sinai. He tutored another ADD student for two years at Queen Anne Elementary School. “He had been given a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder, but in my opinion, the problem was that he was never really challenged,” says Siegal, who taught whatever the student needed; sometimes math, at other times spelling or punctuation. “With tutoring, he learned very well.”
Jerry and Carolyn Richard say teachers are still learning how to make best use of the program. They meet with teachers to find out what the students most need. They say it can be difficult to get teachers to a meeting, and a challenge to get teachers to be clear about what the kids need, so they can optimize their tutoring time.
Jerry says, “When I get there, the teacher will sometimes ask the class, ‘Who wants to go with Mr. Richard?’ The teacher doesn’t seem to care. Usually I teach one-on-one, but occasionally it’s two or three,” he explains, “and that can include a student with no problems, who just wants the extra tutoring.”
While good students are always a pleasure to work with, he would prefer to give his time to those with learning problems, and to have continuity with a student. “Consistency is important. That you come every week, without fail, gives them the message that you care about them.”
“I wish more people would get involved with tutoring,” Alice Siegal says. “There’s a tremendous amount of gratification to be had. And there’s such a need. We have a real shortage of volunteer teachers. Plenty of kids could benefit from the help. And it’s just an hour a week!”
People with daytime jobs have the opportunity to tutor evening classes at the Pilgrim Tutoring Center, at Pilgrim Congregational Church. Smith says a new program is about to be launched under Study Buddy auspices: an elective class for juniors and seniors at the Northwest Yeshiva High School, based on the premise that students can learn by doing community service. For eight weeks, students who elect to participate will tutor students at an elementary school on Beacon Hill, and then write a paper about their experience.
“In addition to what both sides learn from the tutoring experience, the purpose is to bridge the communities,” Smith says.
For more information about becoming a tutor in the Study Buddy Program, you can be in touch with Lisa Smith at the Jewish Federation offices, at 206-774-2276.