Every Saturday from 1:00-3:00 in the afternoon, seven students from the junior class visit the Immigration Outreach Service Center at St. Matthew's Catholic Church to tutor.
What started as a requirement for junior service hours slowly became a commitment that these gentlemen now uphold with pride as they genuinely enjoy the opportunity to help others. I talked to Tyon Carter '20 and Zach Guerra-Eisen '20 about their experience with IOSC tutoring.
Tell me what the IOSC tutoring is like.
Carter: Working at the immigration is a very good experience because it opens your eyes to the real ways immigrants are treated in society. My time their working with the kids has opened my eyes to the fact that they are just like you or me, but we never want to put ourselves in their position when we see them on TV.
Could you give me an example of a time where you helped a child?
Carter: While I was tutoring, there was a time when the kids were writing letters to thank Calvert Hall, but one kid who was in kindergarten wasn’t very good at writing, so I helped him write his entire thank you letter. It took me almost one-and-a-half hours.
Wow, that was really nice of you. Would you say that you enjoy it there?
Carter: I have had more fun memories than bad memories, so I would say that it was pretty enjoyable.
Walk me through the tutoring process.
Guerra-Eisen: We head in around 1:00 PM and log in on a sheet with our time of entry. We then talk to Mrs. Elaine Crawford who is in charge of the tutoring there, and she gives us the kids we will be tutoring for the next couple hours. Usually, we are paired up with kids we have taught before and are in the lower grades (kindergarten to fifth grade), but for me personally, I usually teach the older kids and am move around a lot. This may seem simple, but some kids are super focused while others are more rowdy. Some can read and have good English, and others struggle with both. I know there’s a French kid who can’t speak very well, so it takes longer for some things. After the first hour is over the kids get snack time which is around 15 minutes, and after that we go back to tutor for the remaining 45 minutes. Most of the time, the last 10 minutes are spent talking to the kids about their interests or, for me, doing magic because they keep asking. I’ve talked to one kid whose dad is always out late working and isn’t home much because he needs to make money. After this (around 3:00 PM) we sign out on the same sheet we logged in on and leave.
Could you give me an example of a time where you helped a child?
Guerra-Eisen: One of the older kids in eighth grade wants to come to Calvert Hall, but his writing was poor, so he asked me to help him and revise some of his work. I then proceeded to help him fix the grammar and flow issues I found in his writing and tried to help him understand why they were mistakes.
That is very nice of you. One last thing, do you enjoy working there?
Guerra-Eisen: I find it fulfilling to work there. The staff has nice people and the atmosphere itself is pretty good. Sometimes it can be rough or a pain to make it there on Saturdays, but working with the kids is generally a nice experience.