CWIP Makes Key Connection
For New Member
When I moved to Chicago a year ago, I made it my personal goal to dive into and tackle this city head on. As I researched my options for creative, personal, and professional outlets, a new friend introduced me to CWIP. And CWIP, in turn, introduced me to the Cabrini Green Tutoring Program (CGTP).
As I settled into my new position, and solidified my social calendar, I realized something was missing. I needed to find an outlet that would allow me to share my passion for education and literacy, and hopefully, inspire it in others. With my first visit to tutor orientation, I knew I had found the perfect outlet in CGTP.
Tutoring, life skills and more
With 40 years of history behind it, this program is more than after
school playtime or mentoring. The sincere focus on homework,
study and life skills, sprinkled with educationally guided “fun” time,
was the right match for me. I wanted to be a friend and a mentor but,
first and foremost, I wanted to showcase my dedication to education and
pass that dedication on to someone else. I found that person in Brianna
Croom.
Brianna is a fifth grader at Jenner Academy. She is a bright, polite, articulate student who loves math and wants to be a pediatrician when she grows up. I was a bundle of nerves as I waited that first night to meet her, and knew I had my work cut out for me when she told me her only expectation was that I be “fun.” Yikes. Since then, Brianna and I have spent our Monday nights with homework, flash cards, books that I remember from my elementary school years—and sometimes we just talk. And I listen. And she listens. And we both learn.
Learning the signs
I’ve learned to recognize when she wants to figure something out
on her own, and know when she wants my help, but doesn’t want to
ask. I’ve learned that she appreciates me telling her I don’t
know the answer, and that she loves to stump me with math
problems and beat me at “Guess Who.” I’ve learned that my
heart breaks when she’s upset or has trouble with kids
at school, and she’s grown to know that I’m there to listen,
to advise, and to make her laugh.
When I look around the room during our sessions, I see and hear a lot. Some students get frustrated, and it seems tutors do more calming and coaching then tutoring. I’ve seen tears, and tutors comforting students and coaxing them out of their hardened shells. I’ve also seen hugs, and high fives, and smiles that brighten the faces of students and tutors alike. No matter how bad a case of the Mondays we might have, or how much we’re upset by a fight or argument in our personal lives, every one of us looks forward eagerly to the hour and a half we get each week at tutoring.
Before I realized it, CGTP began to address all the points of my life that I wanted to improve. It gave me professional direction, as I’ve begun to consider future careers in educational publishing and, possibly, teaching. I made new friends in other tutors and a special friend I look forward to seeing grow as a student and a young lady. And each week, I find myself stretching my mind and creative energies, to find new and exciting ways to be “fun” and not to disappoint Brianna in her only expectation of me.
I encourage any of you to get in touch with CGTP and consider joining the team. Perhaps your experience will be as rewarding as my first ten weeks have been. Thank you, CWIP, for this life-changing introduction.
Kristen McCullough is the Communications & Marketing Manager for the National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors in Chicago.
Don't forget to bring K–6 grade books for the Cabrini Green Tutoring Program to CWIP's Holiday Party on December 8! See the events page for more details.