It was 7:00 p.m. on a Tuesday evening. A large yellow
school bus pulled up in front of Central Presbyterian Church in Summit.
Forty-five grade-schoolers and five adult supervisors jumped out and ran into
the CPC auditorium. Waiting for them were more than 60 high-school-age
tutors, prepared to welcome and mentor them for the next hour of that evening.
One hundred plus youth gathered in the CPC auditorium, with some degree of good
order, is an amazing sight!
From October through March, for nearly 50 years, Central
Presbyterian Church has invited youngsters from Elizabethport (the oldest
section of the City of Elizabeth, N.J.) to meet in this way in CPC's auditorium
for a weekly hour of concentrated talk and study.
Public high schools in Summit, Chatham, Springfield and New
Providence are the sources of the tutors, as well as local private schools like
Oak Knoll, Kent Place, Morristown-Beard and Pingry. The students are
African-American or Hispanic. The tutors generally are white and
middle class. But, it works!
Because the building of personal relationships between tutor
and student is so important to us, each student is assigned a permanent tutor
--- the same tutor, week after week. Many students have two regular
tutors, so that if one tutor is involved briefly in sports or other activities,
there is always continuity.
As the tutors get to know their students, they will see
individual areas of academic weakness. One student does not like to read aloud
because he doesn't do it very well. Another student has trouble with
math, so some number exercises are offered. Importantly, this teaching
and practice occurs through great amounts of talking. If the student has
read a story to the tutor, for example, the tutor may ask the student now to
tell the story again in his or her own words. Often, the student or the
tutor simply talk about things they have been doing in their daily lives.
Our purpose is not just academics --- we are mentoring!
Why do the Elizabethport students come to Tutorial each
week, when they could instead be home watching TV, or doing other things?
Each child would answer this question a little differently, but for most of
them, as for most kids, they are happy to be out with their friends on sort of
an adventure. However, as they begin to bond with their particular tutor, the
tutor becomes the big draw. A few parents may push their students to come
to Tutorial, but most tell us they simply hear the kids saying they do not want
to miss the Tuesday night Tutorial session. It may be an exaggeration,
but we have been told that some parents have used Tutorial as a
"stick," saying to their child: "If you do not behave, I
will not let you go to Tutorial on Tuesday evening!"
How is it that we are blessed with so many dedicated
tutors? Each tutor undoubtedly will have his or her particular reasons,
but somewhere on their list is "the personal relationship I have with my
student." They are there every Tuesday because they don't want to
disappoint their student. This is not what some expect from the typically busy
high-schooler.
But, over time the student-tutor relationship grows deeper,
as they learn more about each other, and fondness blossoms, while stereotypes
wither ---- on both sides. We have head of high-school-age tutors who
have satisfied any Community Service requirements their school may have
imposed, but the tutor wants to come back to give a second or even a third year
of tutoring. Some tutors have even described the rewards of their experience as
one of our tutors on their college application. Summit-area parents often
have encouraged their kids to serve as tutors ---- we have had brothers and
sisters serving at the same time, or in successive years.
We see the students and tutors learning things about themselves
and about each other through the Tutorial experience. For the tutors, it
brings home to them how fortunate they are for what they have, and to be sure
to use it wisely. The tutors also discover that their students are much
more like them than they may have realized ---- they are not just reading about
this, they will now have experienced it. Both students and tutors can now
live beyond the stereotypes that the media and society may have given us.
For the students, we expect them to see greater
opportunities for their own lives, by just listening to their tutor's own
stories and encouragement, and witnessing the importance of life focus and
working hard at their studies.
CPC's Elizabethport Tutorial Program truly brings different
"worlds" together ---- high school youth meeting with
grade-schoolers, suburban middle class youth meeting with African-American and
Hispanic kids from one of New Jersey's largest urban centers. We believe
that ALL of us are benefiting.
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some
personal spiritual growth this fall at CPC.
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