<p>I don’t want to sound too mother theresa about this but I was listening to an NPR segment on Sat about a football coach who volunteered to take over a team at a failing school in Philly and he turned it around for these kids. At the same time, I’ve been thinking about my kids’ school…they attend what outsiders might see as a tough urban high school…it’s 70% AA, 81% on lunch aid, etc…with a section of kids who are hitting the top schools and then a bigger section who are being left behind.</p>
<p>So how I can help pull up these kids? People will say to volunteer tutor…and i guess that sounds good but i can’t help my junior D out with her homework anymore so I doubt I could help anyone else 
Have any of you volunteered in some way at your school that targeted the kids who are falling away? I work full-time but as my kids have gotten older, I feel like I have extra energy that could go to…well…<em>something</em>. </p>
<p>College Counseling! </p>
<p>Is it possible to mentor a few students? Show them around your office, possibly help them get internships or job shadowing opportunities. Give them lessons in dressing for business interviewing etc? Essentially this (Big brother/Big Sister): <a href=“Home - Big Brothers Big Sisters of America - Youth Mentoring”>http://www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.5962335/k.BE16/Home.htm</a></p>
<p>You might take a look at this program, which recognizes that by the time kids reach high school, it’s too late for a lot of them:
<a href=“http://www.starfishconnection.org/”>http://www.starfishconnection.org/</a>
Maybe you could help start something similar in your community.</p>
<p>I think you might be able to do more good with younger age groups, where you could help as a tutor or perhaps coach or establish some activities that might help the kids. Sad to say, but I think many of those kids got left behind in elementary or middle school and it’s awfully hard to catch up after so many years. </p>
<p>Best wishes for your attempt of “no child left behind”. Parents involvement are critical for the success of the school.</p>
<p>A weekend long college application application kickoff can be a great way for parents to make a huge impact. Student come to the weekend with drafts of their Common App and (we’re in California) UC essays, and volunteer parents read the essays and make suggestions.
Another great way to volunteer is to do practice interviews for students applying to selective universities and scholarship programs. Going over the standard questions and giving feedback about a student’s responses can improve a student’s performance significantly.</p>
<p>Big Brothers/Big Sisters runs a program in our high school which pairs volunteers with students who are the first generation in their family to apply to college. The volunteers help with the college application process, including exploring college options, completing applications, and applying for scholarships. Program leader (employed by BB/BS) arranged FAFSA workshops, college tours, and life skills workshops.</p>
<p>Perhaps you could looking into starting a similar program at your high school. </p>
<p>I think last year maybe 15 students (out of a class of 300) participated in the program. Not a big number, but for those 15, it made a difference.</p>
<p>You’re on CC, so I assume your child is at the top of the class? Believe me, there are juniors and seniors struggling with arithmetic and basic reading skills. You could certainly be a volunteer tutor. You would be doing a great service if you could even reduce the number of developmental courses needed at the community college. </p>
<p>Sometimes it’s not the tutoring, but the simple fact that someone wants to sit there and answer questions while you do the work, that makes the difference. Sometimes all a struggling student needs is someone to sit there, and go “weren’t we gonna finish that page by 4? let’s start again” or be there to say “hey, how’d we do on that assignment? I’m so proud of you for finishing it”</p>
<p>Thanks for these good ideas, folks!</p>
<p>I hear you on helping out younger kids…but, truthfully, I get sadder when I see the 10th and 11th graders…because they’re still so relatively young but many people have already given up on them…so I may try the harder way and see if I can reach any of them…I’ll keep you all posted! </p>
<p>You might be able to tutor kids taking the lower math classes, like Algebra, and help read essays for English classes and college apps, as noted above. I did some Algebra I helping a few years ago and was surprised how much came back to me! </p>
<p>Does the school have any kind of tutoring in place already? Our big, diverse public does, so teachers do most of the tutoring work. Our school is responsive to that need. I like the idea of counseling or PTA setting up a program for reading college essays. We don’t have that. </p>
<p>I also like the idea of helping younger kids. We had more parent intensive programs to help younger kids with reading and key math concepts. I used to volunteer for those programs, and many times all that was needed was for an adult to listen to a child for thirty minutes. The reading skills were secondary to the kid feeling special, feeling heard, twice a week. </p>
<p>I am thinking of programs we have had for high school kids: AVID, which is for kids who with a little extra help could go to college. Do you have that? Sports tutoring? We had that for two years when too many football players were not making good enough grades to play! I appreciated the rapidity with which the school set that program up and got teachers and parents on board. </p>
<p>Where I live and work the elementary schools beg for help with tutoring. Some have after-school programs, others need help during the day. But kids in HS need tutoring too-as you’ve said, by then people have given up on some of them and a friendly ear might be what could help. Check to see if organizations are already doing something along the lines of what you’re thinking and see if you can join them rather than reinventing the wheel by yourself. And please don’t go in with a patronizing attitude. Sometimes their parents want to help but don’t know how and it’s not because they just don’t care. I see that a lot with those trying to help kids in the lower-income schools and it’s not well-received. </p>
<p>There’s a fantastic organization in the Seattle area which offers both in-school and out-of school programs for kids all around greater Seattle, and it’s supporting a public middle-HS as well. Kids who would likely have not even finished HS are now getting into good colleges and going on to good careers in STEM and other fields. If you can find something like that where you are, I’d jump on it.</p>
<p>Does your hs have a tutoring program? Our school has plenty of honor students volunteering to tutor. But, sadly, the kids who need it do not very good advantage of it. My daughter found it a bit frustrating because the tutees often didn’t show up. So I think they had larger problems than needing specific academic assistance.</p>
<p>@SouthernHope Michael Tubbs inspired me. A frequent CC high school poster (@MrTubbz) who “escaped” his environment to go to Stanford only to return at 21 to better his community. And he did plenty of mentoring while in college too.</p>
<p>One thing that was started in our community is teen cooking classes. Home Ec was dropped years ago from the local high school. Something as basic as cooking skills are not being taught as busy families microwave quick meals. The classes are monthly at a Church. More than teaching cooking, it creates a day event to hang out, share a meal and “soft” mentor.</p>
<p>OP, Longhaul’s post reminded me of something-check the community center(s) near the high school. Our has a range of free teen programs offering everything from computer skills to resume writing to cooking. They sometimes need volunteers for programs like that. It’s not just about academic tutoring but building a relationship so that you can offer or refer a student for help elsewhere as they build life skills. </p>