City Year Tutors Do More Than Educate

Sometimes we come across kids that need more than just tutoring and it takes some time to figure out how best we can help. Cardell is a first grader in our afterschool program. When we first met Cardell he was never sitting in his seat; he was running around or talking to neighbors but never seemed to be doing what we asked. We tried time outs but that didn't seem to work. Reward worked occasionally but even then only for a short amount of time. Finally, we realized that giving Cardell the opportunity to assist us was the best solution. We began giving him special jobs to do and not only did he love doing them but he was a hard worker. When we need extra help collecting trash he is always the first to jump up and push around the trash can to people. When we need someone to point out who is being quiet Cardell is our man. His extra special job comes at the end of the program when he gets to circle the names on the check out paper. We learned early that Cardell loves to help out, because if he wasn't helping us then he was probably getting into some sort of trouble. Cardell is a reminder that every kid has something special they can do and it is our job to help them find it.

Colleen is part of a CSX sponsored team serving children at a school in Columbus, Ohio, through tutoring, afterschool programs and community service projects.