PLACENTIA : Tutors Giving Pupils Welcome Assistance

Four days a week, Rockwell International engineer Bill Smith uses his lunch hour for its intended purpose. But on Wednesdays, Smith grabs a quick bite and heads for Brookhaven Elementary School, where he volunteers as a math tutor.

Smith spends about 45 minutes working with a small group of third-grade students chosen by teacher Karen Sieper to receive extra help with basic math concepts.

Smith is one of 13 tutors who make up the elementary school’s Time for Kids Team. Started in 1991, the program has become so successful that Sierra Vista Elementary School in Placentia and Bryant Ranch Elementary School in Yorba Linda have implemented the program this year.

The volunteer group is a mix of parents, retired people, college students and members of the community.

The program was conceived by Lois Monroe, a member of the school’s PTA, after observing how hard it was for teachers to give students individual attention.

“I was working in my son’s second-grade class, and I noticed some kids who could have used a little extra help,” Monroe said. “The teacher couldn’t spend time with them because she had all these other students who needed her, too.”

That was during the 1989-90 school year and over summer vacation, Monroe and another PTA mother, Becky Norman, talked about what they could do to help schools offer individual attention to students who need it.

The two women won the support of Brookhaven Elementary School Principal Pete Hergenreder to form a volunteer tutor team.

At first, Monroe and Norman focused on recruiting senior citizens. But according to Monroe, few were willing to commit for the entire school year. They widened their search to include college students and other community members.

By February, 1991, Time for Kids had 19 tutors. By the end of the 1991-92 school year in June, Monroe had placed 42 tutors with students identified by their teachers.

Tutors volunteer to spend about 45 minutes a week with individual students or groups of students working on lessons provided by teachers.

“After spending time with (Smith), the students will come back to the classroom and say ‘now I understand,’ ” Sieper said. “They are grasping concepts which makes them more confident.”

Although the school has done no formal testing to see if students’ grades improve after being tutored, at least one teacher has seen a measurable difference.

Donna Payne, who taught a second- and third-grade combination class last year, said standardized test scores of one of her tutored students rose significantly in reading, language arts and spelling--the same areas the student was being tutored.

“I definitely attribute (the improvement) to the tutoring,” Payne said.

Besides receiving additional time to understand a concept, tutored students benefit from the extra attention, one-on-one or in a small group.

“Tutoring tells kids somebody really cares about them,” said Hergenreder, the principal. “Self-esteem is one of the the first things that goes when kids aren’t doing well in school.”

Self-esteem shows up in the classroom as tutored students start raising their hands in class, participate more in class discussions and improve their overall behavior, school officials said.

Payne, who is now a first-grade teacher, said she had a personal experience that sold her on the idea of tutors.

“When I was in second grade an aide took me under her wing and gave me personal attention that I’ve carried with me ever since,” Payne said.

“The memory of just one person who cares about you like that stays with you forever.”