Schools

Eureka! It's Tutor Time

What does door-to-door bread and water have to do with mental sustenance? One leads to the other to help Eastside Elementary students.

By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE, Times Correspondent
Published September 27, 2007

T.J. Oesterricher, 9, looks at posters at the tutoring program reading station at Ridge Manor Methodist Church. The children were introduced to the stations they will rotate through as volunteers help them with schoolwork.
	[ROSS MANTLE | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [ROSS MANTLE | Times] Eighteen children are enrolled to be tutored by 16 volunteers, mostly retirees. There is room for six more children. [ROSS MANTLE | Times] Quinton Croteau, 8, fiddles with a sticker that says "Read to Succeed" on his forehead.

RIDGE MANOR -Janeen Defilippo, 37, is the driving force behind a program that provides weekly tutoring for elementary-age children on the east side of Hernando County.

The 2-year-old effort called Tutor Time is staffed with volunteers, including one newly retired, certified teacher. The afterschool program at Ridge Manor Community United Methodist Church is for second- through fifth-graders. It runs from 4 until 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday.

Tutor Time is aimed mostly at Eastside Elementary School students who might benefit from some extra help but don't necessarily qualify for the school district's Title I Supplemental Educational Services.

Defilippo's daughter is one of them.

The need for tutoring came to light during a meeting of several principals, Title I teachers, community leaders and volunteers who were seeking a way to improve student success. The committee wanted a way to increase volunteer efforts and involve the community in education.

Defilippo approached her church's pastor, Debbie Nelson, and told her she wanted to start an afterschool tutoring program. About that time, the church was doing a neighborhood walk to meet people and invite them to church by going door to door and handing out bread and water.

That effort, called "Celebrate Jesus," resulted in a neighborhood party and the chance to unite the older community members with the children. From this, Defilippo said, she found volunteers for her program.

Sixteen volunteers, mostly retired, tutor 18 enrolled students. There is room for six more children. There is no fee for the program.

Defilippo found several ways to fund the program. The workers are all volunteers, including teacher Jane Comer. The Eastside Elementary School Advisory Council provides snacks, and Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water has donated water. A tutor from last year left a memorial gift that is sustaining them through this year.

A lot of materials are borrowed. Some were donated by church members, including two kidney-shaped tables and a listening station.

When the children arrive, they have a snack and then, divided into five groups, rotate through stations: computers, flash cards, homework, reading and games. Comer will determine which volunteers are best to help which child.

"She's going to have a very tailored program for each one of them," Defilippo said.

Students receive stickers for participation and good behavior that can be redeemed at the supply wall. They can choose from stuffed animals, crayons, pencils, glue sticks, notebooks and erasers.

Comer was a teacher for 32 years in Pasco County and retired in May. For her past 10 years she was a reading specialist. But she brought more to the program than her expertise. She also brought her mother, Bo Gebhardt, to volunteer.

Students are invited to stay for the church's children's ministry, the Faithful Bible Investigators, and dinner, if they wish. Dinner is served at 5:30, followed by Bible studies until 7.

For more information, call 583-3770.

[Last modified September 26, 2007, 20:30:18]