LSNA Wins New Americorps Program for Logan Square

Young students who need extra help in school will get it this year from Parent Tutors under a new Americorps grant awarded to LSNA. The LSNA Americorps program is one of only 22 state programs in Illinois.
    Ask any LSNA Parent Tutor how she will help her students, and she will tell you how she teaches reading, but also how she builds relationships. “It’s important to motivate the children,” says Gabriela Galvan who has been helping Mozart students for six years. “We give them self-confidence and affection.”
    More than 200 students in 1st through 3rd grade will get 1-on-1 tutoring from Parent Tutors throughout the year. Besides Mozart, the 24 Americorps workers will tutor at Darwin, Funston, McAuliffe and Monroe schools. The Tutors all have had experience in classrooms as LSNA Parent Mentors, but will also get extra training.  Some are also studying to be teachers in LSNA’s “Grow Your Own” teacher program.
    “The students are so receptive to the one-on-one attention,” says new tutor Karla Mack, who has twins, 8,and a daughter, 12, at McAuliffe. “They are like flowers that open in the sun. The tutoring just does wonders.” Principals and teachers have welcomed the new program and choose the children who need the most individual help.
    Another goal is to share tutoring skills with the parents of the tutored children. “Many parents think its enough to send their children to school. But we are going to share our tutoring knowledge with the parents, too, because the children need help at home,” adds tutor Raul Ortiz. “There must be a connection between the school and the parent.”
    “We will be a bridge that connects parents, teachers and students,” said Mack.
    In addition to a stipend, each tutor will receive a tuition grant from Americorps at the end of the school year.

Nanette Alvarez tutors a child at Monroe School.