AGS Tutoring Club
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to sit in on a club activity that started this year at Alice Gustafson School. I was invited by Mrs. Woodruff to attend the Tutoring Club for 2nd Graders. What makes this club so magical is that it was the dream, possibly a playground idea, that a group of 5th Graders came up with. But they didn’t just think about it, they made it happen. Avery, Sophie, and Zoe approached Mrs. Woodruff and asked if she would help them get it started and mentor them through the process, and of course, she said yes. The “Teachers” then brought in some friends to act as “Helpers”, enter Jessica, Sam, Sophia, Olivia, Kai, and Katherine.
Next, they wrote up a flyer to market their club to 2nd-grade families, and the response was overwhelming. Here is an excerpt from their flyer:
“Hello parents of 2nd graders,
Mrs. Woodruff and (5th Graders) Avery, Zoe, and Sophie would LOVE for your 2nd grader to be in our new tutoring club. We will be focusing on the subjects of math, reading, writing, printing, and spelling.”
The club meets on Friday mornings at 8:10 am. Helpers meet the students at the front doors of AGS and escort them down to Mrs. Woodruff’s class. By 8:15 am they have the students broken up into groups by subject area, then tutoring begins. They have a stated limit of 20 students, and they typically come close to that cap.
“We have learned a lot throughout this process.”, said Avery, Sophie, and Zoe. The biggest was to incorporate a rewards system into the tutoring. If the students accomplish certain goals, they get a “fuzzy” and if they get enough “fuzzies” in a session, they get to pull a prize out of a toy chest.
The experience of attending their Friday tutoring was awesome. These 5th graders impressed me so much with how organized they were, how well they handled the time that they had with the students, and the process they go through to get this done each week. It is so sweet to witness this group of young leaders, identifying a need, recognizing their strength, and putting out a hand to help those that need it. Let’s also take time to recognize the effort that Mrs. Woodruff has put into supporting the dreams of these students. May we all be thankful for these young dreamers, and their supporters.
