Entry #22: The headline read:
"Volunteers flock to schools to tutor students."

St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana -- Desperate times necessitate desperate measures. Isn't that how the saying goes? While the students and community at Beauregard Middle School do not have exceptional needs in comparison with the Greater New Orleans area, there still should be great concern.

After spending three weeks volunteering in a sixth grade Social Studies class, I now have some perspective on the situation. Students are learning slowly and what many are learning are not the higher order thinking skills that will be assessed on accountability tests such as the state LEAP exams.

Attendance is sporadic for many, while motivation remains dismal for most. First-year teacher Dwayne Achord and I lamented about the number of students that failed the last two social studies tests and how few of them will even do homework and go over the prepared study guide. While many are reading the words in class, they are not comprehending the information. As a school, Beauregard is listed as "Academically Below Average" on the 1998-99 Louisiana School Report Card which factors in Iowa test results, attendance, dropouts and LEAP scores.

Dwayne and I both agreed that, individually, most of the kids are eager to learn and will respond. But they don't demonstrate this in the classroom setting. Beauregard is offering several tutoring opportunities with staff during and after school. Only about 10% of the students are taking advantage of these sessions.

One federally funded program called "Talent Search" pays for biweekly tutoring after school as well as visits to local universities like the one I attended on Saturday at Southern University in New Orleans. Open to all middle school grades, the 30 students participating this year get extra help from two staff members after school. Grades have improved since September for most of the students. Again, though, school personnel are called upon to put in the extra time and extend their school day as well.

Instead, I like the idea of reaching out to the greater community to get the extra time for kids. That's why, after reading a story in the New Orlean's Times-Picayune headlined "Volunteers flock to schools to tutor students," I had to learn more. Last November, in nearby New Orleans Parish, 1,300 people showed up to find out how they could help. Drawn by TV and radio advertisements, 600 signed up for further background checks and a five-hour training. A large number ended up working at Sophie Wright Middle School, a struggling urban facility.

As I sat in the office of Wright M.S. waiting for Principal Charlotte Matthew, I felt like I was on a Naval Base. A steady stream of officers and military personnel from East Bank Naval Facility signed in, grabbed a student folder and went to work with one of 50 eighth graders. The 28 tutors (with 13 subs) come twice a week for an hour with one or more students. The kids miss PE with the teacher's permission. Along with the academic progress students are making, the tutors I talked with see a real change in attitude. Commander Mike Bernard commented how surprised he was at the impact the Navy volunteers were making and how "the kids seem to respond to anyone who takes the time."

The program is scheduled to continue through spring and start up again in the fall. Another officer was excited about the chance for an expanded relationship over the summer outside of school.

[See more information about this program below.]

This leads me to mention one last resource that in my hometown is only available outside of school. 4-H has been a major factor in the development of our two sons. Over their four years of involvement, Ian and Tyler have learned poise, organization, record-keeping and presentation -- and they've developed relationships with other supportive adults. So, I was excited to find out that all of the elementary and middle schools in St. Bernard Parish have school-based clubs. In fact, 4-H trains teachers and supplies materials for a Character Education program to all but two of the 64 parishes in Louisiana.

A quick visit to the nearby extension office revealed that ready-to-use materials are available for all types of projects from computers to child development and from livestock to leadership. They will even train volunteers as project leaders and come to the schools to assist with club meetings. While there are only 20 students in the club at Beauregard, there is potential for much more.

As we prepare to leave this area, my recommendation would be to not only continue what is working but to get a message out to this parish such as was done in New Orleans. I know there are hundreds of people out there who want young people to succeed. If only someone can get them to understand that times really are desperate.

We are off to Texas. I'll be writing from Corpus Christi in 2 weeks.


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Darrell sent this additional information along:

I gathered most of the information about tutoring in New Orleans from an article in the Times-Picayune 2-13-00 and from my visit to the one school.

According to the article, most of those attending the initial "call to arms" can be attributed to "TV and radio commentators and public relations specialists Bill Rouselle and Warren Bell." In New Orleans parish, Gertrude Ivory is mentioned as a key person who could also give more information.

The actual 5 hour "training" was conducted and paid for by the school district (parish). After finishing the training, they were then sent to the school of their choice where principals and teachers were responsible to assign them students. Once the system is in place, it seemed to run itself for the most part. There does need to be someone overseeing the process to call tutors when students are absent. In my travels I have also found that more happens with the general public when the "powers" to be are involved such as mayor, city council people, superintendent of schools etc. The more clout you can present, the more people pay attention. Personal invitation of key people (business owners, gov. officials etc) seems to be effective as well.