Most Penn students sleep late on Fridays, but some are out in the chilling morning air, awaiting transportation to a public school by 9 a.m. They are volunteers with the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project (WPTP).,
After signing in at Sulzberger Middle School, 48th and Fairmount Streets, the tutors meet their individual students and head for the library to get down to some serious studying. Lamont Randell and his Penn tutor, Jeff Pokras, skip the basic introductions and get right to work because they have only an hour or two to review a week's worth of material. The one-on-one relationship is of great benefit to Lamont. He has been working with Jeff almost weekly since September 1994, so both know what to expect from each other. Math is the topic of the day's discussion, and Lamont is eager to learn.
Lamont has been struggling with much of his schoolwork recently because he missed most of January with a stomach illness. After some time at home and in the hospital, he is back to relatively full strength. "I don't mind missing class," says the seventh grader who loves football (his favorite team is the Dallas Cowboys ), "because the tutoring helps me a lot."
On this particular Friday, Jeff has brought some helpful learning devices with him and lays them on the table for his young student to peruse. The first part of their agenda concerns addition, so they play a math game involving adding numbers until they reach a set point. Next, the two focus on division, starting with a large number and working their way down factor by factor. Jeff decides to take a detour from the routine of the two games to help Lamont with his understanding of prime numbers.
Jeff, an SAS junior majoring in mathematics and urban studies, works slowly to explain the definition of a prime number, help Lamont to identify one on sight, and then incorporate it into the previous game involving division. By the end of the session, Lamont has a good grasp of prime numbers, and even corrects Jeff's mistakes for him.
After 45 minutes of math, the pair conclude their session with a short game of electronic basketball. Lamont focuses intently on scoring as many points as possible, and even applies his math skills to figure out whether or not his final score is a prime number. The recreational diversion from the normal discipline of tutoring lightens the mood, and brings a smile to Lamont's face as a reward for his hard work.
Like Jeff, many Penn students travel to a number of Philadelphia public schools several times a week to lend a hand to young students like Lamont who need to improve their work in a specific subject or in all their schoolwork in general. The WPTP serves students at 21 of West Philadelphia's public middle schools, with close to 300 students receiving scholastic help. A total of 10 "team leaders" assigned to specific school sites are in charge of solving any problems in the tutoring process and being a liaison to the University. On the Penn campus, the Program for Student-Community Involvement provides a host of resources for potential tutors, from study work sheets to games.
The close bond of "real one-on-one relationships," said Bea Swedlow, coordinator for the WPTP, is the key to the success of the program. "This isn't just about students at Penn tutoring children," she added. "It's about creating windows of opportunity. We hope that our tutors ignite sparks in their students. And we hope--we know--that Penn students learn from their tutees. The WPTP encourages them to identify for themselves the value of community service and their role in the community."
An extensive tutor manual is given to all the Penn students so that they can learn to be better teachers. With tips on how to approach the subject matter and ideas for getting to know their students better, the manual is an invaluable part of the tutoring orientation.
One facet of the WPTP that distinguishes it from similar endeavors is its focus on giving individual attention to students. With tutors at a premium, other tutoring programs often maintain a two-to-one or three-to-one ratio of students to tutors, but the WPTP places a priority on one-on-one sessions, so that the tutor-student relationship can progress into a bond that grows from strong friendships.
The tutors from Penn do a lot more than just give something back to the local area. They help to shape the lives of the youths they instruct. "It does make a difference," said Marie Bollers, site coordinator of the "Say Yes" program. By working closely with middle-school students and giving them positive motivation, she said, "We can show them that they can achieve anything."
Several other tutoring opportunities for Penn students exist besides the WPTP. TEACH West Philadelphia is an after-school program that serves the specific needs of Asian refugee children ages 6 through 14 living in the community. Not only do the tutors provide a valuable academic service, they also enrich their younger students' lives with field trips and other group recreational activities. The TEACH West Philadelphia program meets Monday and Wednesday afternoons.
A new tutoring and mentoring program, ACAMP, was started last semester by a group at Penn called ACELA (Asociación Cultural de Estudiantes Latino-Americanos). Focusing on fourth- through sixth-grade students in the Latino community of North Philadelphia, the Penn students tutor students on Thursday and Friday afternoons, and the middle schoolers come to Penn once a month to enjoy a variety of activities.
Return to Compass Features for March 5, 1996