It is back to school time and for Tutors for Kids, that means one thing – more volunteers needed. Tutors for Kids, an all-volunteer organization, started by Villagers Frank Russo and Carolyn Ruhe nine years ago with six volunteers has grown into an organization of 450 tutors servicing twelve schools including one middle school. Each year the principals of the schools reach out to Tutors for Kids for assistance.
“Right now I know we could use another 75 to 100 volunteers to meet the current requests,” said Russo.
Volunteers help in reading, math, science and creative writing. The focus is in reading, which is how Russo and Ruhe initially got involved. Neither were educators by profession, but both loved to read and had a passion for the importance of reading. They went to a read-in program at a Marion County elementary school and realized what a struggle many of the children were having participating in the program.
“We talked about it,” said Russo. “And we contacted Belleview Santos Elementary School and offered to volunteer with students and they graciously accepted.”
The program has grown since then by leaps and bounds.
“One of the added pressures the schools are experiencing this year is that their students tested well last year moving the schools up a letter grade and they need their vulnerable students to remain at grade level,” said Ruhe.
The volunteers with Tutors for Kids can pick the grade, subject and school they would like to work in. The time commitment is 90 minutes per week. Once a volunteer is assigned to a classroom, they typically work with three students for 30 minutes each.
“It is amazing the progress a student can make with that additional thirty minutes of one-on-one time with a tutor,” said Russo. “I have a thousand success stories.”
Sometimes it is simply boosting their confidence level with encouragement and guidance, so that they feel comfortable participating in the class and then they soar.
Reading is the root in helping the children. “I was tutoring a fifth grader last year in math,” said Russo, “he read at a much lower grade level; he couldn’t read the math problems.”
Only half of the over four hundred volunteers are former educators. Forty percent of the volunteers are men.
“That is a really important statistic,” says Russo. Many of the 12 schools are 75 to 99 percent Title I, meaning most of the children are at or below the poverty line.
“Many are from single parent homes and the tutor is one of the few male role models in these kid’s lives,” said Russo. Male or female these kids really bond with their tutors.
Not having been an educator is not an impediment to being a tutor. There is training and orientation before a volunteer enters the classroom. Volunteers are welcome to shadow a veteran volunteer for a few weeks and Tutors for Kids hold monthly meetings at St. Timothy’s to offer further training, workshops and a venue to get questions answered. About 75 percent of the volunteers are Villagers. Others come from Stonecrest, Del Webb and Spruce Creek South in this area and Ocala and Leesburg. Tutors for Kids participates in schools in south Marion, Sumter and Lake counties.
In addition to helping a child expand their horizons, volunteering has another hidden benefit to the volunteer. “They get their grandchildren fix,” said Russo. “The bond these tutors have with the children is really special.”
For more information about Tutors for Kids go to www.tutorsforkids.org. If you would like to contact someone about volunteering, email – tutorsforkids@att.net or call 352-568-5843.
