Sierra Association of Foster Families’ Tutoring Program: A New Technique By: Kendall Stone
The Sierra Association of Foster Families, SAFF, created one of the most unique tutoring programs. It helps foster children in the Northern Nevada area by giving them one on one tutoring help. Through referrals from social workers or court judges a foster child can enter the tutoring program. Then every week a tutor meets once a week with the foster child to help them with their schoolwork. The tutors can cover any subject from elementary school to their senior year of high school. What sets this program apart from other tutoring programs is the tutors come to the kids. They drive to wherever the foster child is and the tutoring takes place there.
The Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation is a major source of funding for SAFF’s tutoring program. Each year the foundation has given large amounts of money to help insure that all types of children get the education deserve. This funding allows SAFF to pay the tutors and keep the tutoring program running. The tutoring program does receive other funding and grants but the Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation contributes the bulk of the much needed funding.
Part of what is so special about this specific tutoring program is the structure of the program. The tutors always goes to the foster child. It creates a steady, comfortable environment. Not only does this offer the best environment to learn in, it injects some stability into a kid’s life that may not have a lot of that. Talking to some of the tutors, it becomes obvious that this structure is why this program has so much success. They talk about how it makes it easier for the kids to ask questions in a more comfortable environment and how it reduces the chances of cancelations. Whitney, a current tutor with SAFF, mentioned that “These children and teens are constantly being shuffled from appointment to appointment. When we go to them it makes it seem more convenient and comforting opposed to just another thing they have to do”. Even when the foster child switches homes or returns to their birth parent, the tutors can follow them to their new home. Sometimes because of scheduling conflicts it is impossible to keep the same tutor but the SAFF looks for another tutor. The structure remains the same, even if the tutor does not.
The tutors of this program really reach out to the children they tutor. SAFF’s tutoring program is mainly composed of University of Nevada, Reno students who make the effort to get to know each of the kids they tutor. Depending on the tutor they can tutor as many students as they feel comfortable with, from two kids to nine. With varying years of experience, the tutors are recruited in many different ways: from Craigslist’s ad to connecting with SAFF through volunteer opportunities.
Each session is built around what the child needs. The tutors are there to help them with their schoolwork but they make sure to ask questions about how the child is doing. They talk to them and create personal relationships while maintaining professional boundaries. Another current tutor at with SAFF, Joel, describes the average session like this “I show up we chat a little bit, as we get straight into the work, and I ask questions about their day. I like to know if their alright and how things are going for them.” The focus is always on the school work but the tutors provide another stable, positive relationship for the foster kids. The best moment described by some of the tutors is when “a kid gets it”, when they no longer need the tutor because they realized they were capable of it on their own.
Tailoring the tutoring sessions to the child increases the success rate. If a child has a behavior syndrome, like ADHD, then the tutor can try to accommodate that. One tutor designed a dice game and a scavenger hunt to help a child learn. Some of the techniques used by the tutors are innovative and show how effort goes into helping the foster children they tutor. The kids, in turn, respond to these activities. Like any other kid, they may not be excited to do homework but most do their best for their tutors.
The way the children can show this is through succeeding in school. They can reach the point where they no longer need the tutor or they graduate high school. Some students even make their school’s honor roll for the first time after being in SAFF’s program. Two different tutors described having worked with a student until graduation. One worked with a student from freshman year until senior year. In both cases the person they tutored went onto college. One of the tutors even got to help the person they tutored sign up for college classes. Both tutors said that the experience was rewarding for both them and the foster child and were very proud of the student. Cases like these prove how helpful this tutoring program can be.
The situations these foster children can be difficult. There might be issues from behavior syndromes to a previous unstable home life. They do not have the perfect life but that is what makes their success all the more inspiring. The students try hard for their tutors and appreciate their time, despite any problems they may be having at home. This does lead to the issues within the tutoring program like random cancelations or suddenly leaving the system but the students appreciate the time they receive. Most use the one on one tutoring to its full advantage. They learn the life skills their tutor is trying to teach them as well as the study skills.
The Sierra Association of Foster Families has a unique tutoring program. It gives new educational opportunities to a group of kids that does not always get the chance to receive them. Not only are they learning educational standards, they are growing as people. This program could expand and improve, though that would require more funding. As it is now, this program’s successes show how beneficial tutoring programs can be with a unique approach can be. These foster care students are getting into college and excelling in school and receiving great help with their education.
