New Experiences at Heberle Elementary

By Doug Geier, NDA Cincinnati Member, 1999-2000

The Cincinnati Public School System has received its share of inattention, criticism, and apathy over the years, and 1999-2000 was no exception. Voters recently failed to approve the restoration of lost funding for the schools. Teachers have been laid off while the district continues to face dropping enrollment and low reading and math proficiency.

Heberle Elementary is a Cincinnati public school facing these challenges. There is often an anxiety you can feel among the teachers about their futures. Often, frustrations with the “system” surface in the classroom. The school has many advantages, though, one being the presence of five Notre Dame-AmeriCorps members. Members serve as reading tutors under the Success for All program, an intervention program aimed at raising reading proficiency. Maria Nilsson tutors the lowest first graders. “The structure of the SFA program provides a strong foundation for the students and the tutors. We are given a rigorous schedule in which we provide a consistent model for the tutees. This is really necessary considering most of us have never tutored before,” she says.

Consistency is very important in forming a relationship with each child. In the past, teaching assistants tried to fill in the gaps for needy students, but they already had many other tasks they were responsible for, so they were unable to devote all of their time to the tutoring program. NDA members can devote their whole day to tutoring, and the teachers think this is more effective. Ann Mackay, an NDA member at Heberle, has seen a difference in her students. “I have heard praises from teachers about how the children I have tutored have changed, they had never participated in class before and now they do. Plus their writing has improved, which really makes me feel like I am doing my job.”

Doing an effective job also involves good teamwork. Each morning the group discusses upcoming events and plans. The half hour before the school day starts gives us the opportunity to discuss our ideas and keep files on each student. Alexis Kidd entered the program in March and has become a great asset to the team. “The four AmeriCorps workers jumped right in and told me what my job was and they took the time to train me. They showed me techniques that worked for them and that kept them on task.”

The NDA members at Heberle are first and foremost friends to the students at the school. NDA members have the time to listen to a student’s problems and design ways to reach each individual in their own way. Janet Huff, who is a mother of a student in the tutoring program and an AmeriCorps member, sees the benefits of the program from both angles. “I have seen a definite change in Aimee since her first session with the tutors. She is eager to do her assignments and to read.”

The Notre Dame-AmeriCorps program at Heberle is proof that with hard work, consistency, and teamwork, positive change can happen in our nation’s troubled public schools.

Notre Dame Mission Volunteers - AmeriCorps
403 Markland Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21212
Phone:(410) 532-6864 - Fax: (410) 532-2418

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