A tall 13-year-old boy named Eric enters a nearly empty classroom and greets his teacher. Unsure of himself, Eric shifts his weight as the teacher, Lee Winn, asks him how he’s doing. After a moment’s pause, Eric gives his reply.
“About this tutoring thing, does that mean I’m stupid?” he asks.
Winn, who is a language arts teacher at Middletown’s Woodrow Wilson Middle School, had been sifting through some folders throughout the conversation. After hearing the question, however, she turned around.
Winn explained that the program is really about having a mentor, pointing out that Eric’s tutor has many things in common with him. Furthermore, his tutor goes to college, something that Eric wants to do in the future.
University students have been tutoring students from Woodrow Wilson Middle School for the past five years through the Woodrow Wilson Tutoring Program, which was established in 2004.
It all began when Professor Carol Wright taught a service-learning class that involved going to Woodrow Wilson and working with kids who were in danger of not advancing to high school. Annie Hiendel ’06, a member of the original class, wanted to continue her work at Woodrow Wilson.
“When it was over, Annie came to me and said, ‘You know, I’d really like to do this again next year and maybe we could get it more organized and get other kids to come and help,’” Winn said. “I said, ‘Sure, call me at the end of the summer,’ and I gave her my phone number.”
Hiendel and Winn realized that University students were interested and developed the program further. They created information packets to help tutors learn how to interact with and support the kids.
This year’s program began last week for returning tutors and will incorporate new tutors starting next week. Undergraduates drive over to Woodrow Wilson Middle School to tutor seventh and eighth grade students twice a week—every undergraduate tutors two students, each for two hours a week.
The tutors quickly discover that they are not just teaching these kids about earth science and history.
“Middle school is a really formative age and it’s really important for people to have role models in their lives at that point,” said Sara Shor ’10, who is one of the program’s coordinators.
The faculty assigns mentors to the students for varying reasons: they may be having trouble socially or emotionally or just need someone to talk to. Other times, the reason is academic assistance. Although there are no concrete tests to measure the success of the program, Winn noted that she sees results.
“Do they work on academics? Yes, but not solely,” Winn said. “The grades tend to be better and behavior is dramatically improved.”
For many of the students, their tutors are the only people they know who have attended college. Exposure to University students helps the younger student develop relationships with people engaged in higher education. One of the main goals of the program is that its participants will enter high school with hopes of going on to college.
During the tutoring sessions, University students work with Woodrow Wilson students to complete their homework; however, the time together is also often an opportunity to talk about friends, family, and other issues outside the realm of academics.
“We talked about school, homework, my family, stuff like that,” said Moeseha, a 13-year-old eighth grader.
Students look forward to the biweekly visits—for some, the tutors fill in voids that teachers often leave.
“I liked [working with my mentor]…she helped me out with things I had a hard time doing in class that my teacher didn’t help me out with,” said Savonna, another eighth-grader who has benefited from the program.
Both Savonna and Moesha mentioned that many of their friends have also requested mentors and Winn added that in a month or two more children will most likely come to her asking for tutors. Winn hopes that 40 University students will participate this year—however, she said this is not even enough since nearly every Woodrow Wilson student wants to hang out with a cool college kid.
“You’ll be in the library and kids will come up to you and say ‘I want a tutor. How do I get a tutor?’” Shor said.
The University students also find the program incredibly rewarding. Shor noted that because the tutors see the same two children each week, they have the opportunity to develop close relationships with the students.
“I’m still in touch with the tutees I had sophomore year,” said Emma Zoloth ’10, another program coordinator. “It’s really about being a friend and a mentor as well as a tutor.”
Tutors have been known to attend their tutees’ basketball games and meet after school to get ice cream.
“It’s really nice to get off campus and see who lives in Middletown and the public middle school is a perfect way to do that,” Shor said. “It gives people a lens into urban education which is something that a lot of Wesleyan students don’t really have.”
Many University students participate in the program for all four years.
“Once they’re in, they usually stay,” Winn said.
The tutors often follow careers paths in education after they graduate. Shor herself is considering work in education policy or teaching after graduation.
Each student in the program has a different story to tell, challenging and benefiting both the tutor and the tutee.
“My experiences have definitely changed based on the kids that I’ve tutored,” said Shor, who has tutored four students over her time in the program. “It takes you away from the mentality of the college-up-on-a-hill type of thing. You’re learning a lot about Middletown and the kids you are tutoring, and they’re learning from you.”
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