HOW TO HELP
WHAT: Whiz Kids at Hopewell Elementary
WHERE: 8200 Cox Road, West Chester Twp.
WHEN: 3 to 4:20 p.m. Thursdays from Jan 7, 2016, to May 5, 2016
TO VOLUNTEER: Call 513-777-6128 or visit www.citygospelmission.org
NOTE: Sites vary with days and times throughout the district, so volunteers can choose which site is convenient for them.
It’s been a decade since Amy Han helped bring a literacy-based, one-on-one tutoring and mentoring program to Hopewell Elementary School. Now, that program serves six schools in Lakota Local School District.
The years in between have found Han working as a leader, tutor and mentor herself.
Han got the idea from City Gospel Mission, which started Whiz Kids in 2005 in Cincinnati Public Schools as a ministry to provide support for academically and socially at risk children through tutoring and mentoring.
Volunteers are paired with a child and meet weekly in a group setting for one-on-one tutoring/mentoring for one hour each week for the duration of the school year.
Hopewell Elementary Principal Christina French said the program is not only an opportunity for children to receive one-on-one support with school work, but more importantly an opportunity to connect with others and to create friendships and interactions that are safe and lasting.
“Our Whiz Kids tutors look forward to seeing their tutors each week and often share with them life obstacles, seek advice and, of course, have fun,” French said. “These are relationship lessons that the children will take with them into adulthood and have lasting effects on their lives.”
A nomination that led to Han being honored last month as one of West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance’s Women of Excellence 2015 said she is a “compassionate, dedicated and humble individual” who takes interest, works tirelessly, and makes the school teachers and tutors feel appreciated with encouraging words.
“I didn’t nominate Amy, but I applaud the person who did,” French said. “Perfect choice.”
A typical Whiz Kids session consists of volunteers gathering in the lunchroom at 3 p.m. each Thursday, collecting reading packets for their child and being ready to spend one uninterrupted hour helping with reading, basic math or homework followed by 20 or so minutes of board games or free time, she said.
Hopewell was the first Lakota school in which the program was established in 2006.
“We average between 25 and 30 tutors each year, but have had as many as 45 in past years,” Han said. “We are limited only by the number of volunteers each year.”
There are six Lakota schools currently involved in the program, and all students in the program have their own tutor, she said.
The most important aspect of the program is the caring relationship between the tutor and the child, Han said.
“Kids and tutors grow to trust and respect each other and look forward to the time each week,” she said. “Most of my Hopewell tutors have tutored their child through several years and we have one former Whiz Kids student who comes from her high school to tutor now. It’s awesome.”
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