Highlights
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Lindsay Heights volunteer works toward literacy
Sammie Lou Kreiger often finds herself paging through copies of the “Magic Tree House,” “Twilight” or “Harry Potter” series, and has probably read each book more than once. But it’s inevitable – they’re the favorite books of the sixth grade girl she tutors.
Krieger volunteers at Our Next Generation, a community-based nonprofit that offers after school, academic and enrichment programs. She has volunteered there for 16 years, and for the last six she's been with the same student and is likely to continue with her for years to come. “I think (my student) and I are unusual because we’ve been together six years,” she said. “I’m the only tutor that she’s had here, and I tell her each year if she wants to find a younger tutor that she can, but she never has, so I’m very happy.” ONG offers programs geared toward three groups: elementary, middle and high school-age children. Each program focuses on needs of the specific group, and literacy is an overarching focus through each program. Krieger sees her student weekly in the “Homework Club” program, where they work on homework, use flash cards and practice reading. “We have a great literacy program that is really starting to get kids excited about reading – not necessarily force-feeding books on them,” said Codi Alger, public relations and volunteer manager at ONG. Krieger said over the past six years, she’s seen great improvement in her student’s literacy. “Reading is number one,” Krieger said. “I feel all of (the students’) learning is based on reading, whether it’s math or history, so I feel that’s a very important thing.” As she and her student alternate reading a copy of a “Magic Tree House” series book, their close relationship is evident – both at and away from the tutoring desk. When Krieger isn’t tutoring at the center, she makes an effort to stay in touch with her student, organizing summer outings to Discovery World and Chinese food restaurants, as well as plans to take her student and her siblings Christmas shopping this year. “Our goal is to create a true mentoring relationship, and we use homework help as the vehicle to develop that mentoring relationship,” Alger said. “[Krieger is] just another healthy person in [her student’s] life who’s consistent and shows up on time and is always kind of there to listen.” ONG volunteers come from the community, local universities and congregations, and many like Krieger have been tutoring since the start of “Homework Club,” when it was founded in the early 1990s by members of the former St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. Although the program is not religiously affiliated, it is housed in the former church and is still closely tied to it. “At that time the congregation members saw a need in the community for homework help, so they founded a program called the “Homework Club,” and that’s still one of the names we use today,” Alger said. ONG’s progress has helped students overcome obstacles over the past 20 years, guiding many toward academic achievement and life skills. “We find that students with a mentor are twice as likely to graduate from high school, and we work in a community where the graduation rate is 40 percent, so that’s a very important statistic for us,” Alger said. “We’re very proud we graduate over 95 percent of our seniors each year.” And Krieger’s seen this first hand. She’s been contacted by students she’s tutored at ONG in the past, one of who went on to study at a college in Alabama. “I’m a person who has never cared for statistics, but it’s so meaningful to hear the percentage of students that graduate from high school and that they do continue,” Krieger said. “It shows that there really is a need [for ONG].” |