Volunteers’ Stories

Cynthia Grapples with the Ups and Downs of Tutoring

"I began to feel doubtful if I was really helping him at all or if someone else might be able to do a better job with him."

For the better part of the last six months my student and I have worked on a specific project. My student works in a Thai restaurant in Philadelphia.

Approximately a month into our tutoring sessions, he told me that he had to complete a required course at Community College and then take a test regarding working in the restaurant business. He was given a book which consisted of 15 chapters on handling, storage, cleanliness, safety, and maintenance in and around handling food. This is not a complete list of the course topics but it gives an idea of the wide range of topics. The course was two days a week for three weeks. Needless to say, he was overwhelmed trying to understand the words, language and what was being taught in such an extremely short period of time, and he did not pass the test. Read more …

Sister Bernice Finds Fulfillment in ESL Tutoring

While on retreat one year at Maryknoll, NY, I asked the sisters who returned from the foreign missions, "What do you do when you come back to the US?" Many answered that they became English as a Second Language (ESL) tutors in nearby New York City. Having been a teacher for 22 years and in social services for an additional 12 years, I found their answer to be very inviting.

As a sister of St. Francis of Philadelphia, I found Delco Literacy a fine place to begin my new journey of volunteerism. In fall of 2008, I took the four-week tutoring course to teach ESL with Mimi Nenno. She had many tricks of the trade that sounded very inviting too. I was delighted when my first student was from Poland, especially since I am of Polish-American descent! However, after two weeks I heard the good news that she got more hours at work in a super-market! It was good news for her but bad news for me. She would not be continuing her ESL lessons. Read more …

Reisa Speaks about the Reality of Tutoring

I thank you very much for the opportunity to share my personal experience volunteering with the Literacy Council. For me, it began the day I passed the giant sign hanging on the Council's building saying "Tutors Needed!" Some twenty-odd years earlier, I had attended an interest meeting at a literacy center in Boston. The emphasis there had been on strict phonetic teaching. Pure drudgery. I didn't sign up, and frankly I was confused. I had recently received an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where a more wholistic approach was taught.

Fast forward to January 2007 at the Delaware County Literacy Council. I am attending a two-day workshop, revisiting the matter. What a contrast. The training by Kim Kondla was fascinating, flexible, and user-friendly. I was totally sold.

My first tutee never showed up. I realized it could take awhile before I got a productive match. That happened when I was paired with Carol, a young mother of four, originally from the West Bank. Read more …