Wake Forest church helps boost student achievement with tutoring program

February 15, 2001 - Excited voices and children's laughter echo through the halls of Friendship Chapel Baptist Church, bringing smiles to the faces of Tom and Janice Hodges, organizers of the Wake Forest church's tutoring program for children.

"My husband was working with the church's Boys to Men program. The men lead scripture lessons and take the boys to activities," said Mrs. Hodges. "I remember one night he came home a little worried and said, 'I see some of the 12- and 13-year-old kids reading scripture and it seems like they are struggling.' He was surprised that children at this age were seemingly struggling with the English language. He said, 'Let's see what we can do about this.' I was all for it."

Enlisting the help of the church's pastor, Dr. Enoch Holloway, Youth Minister Barry Young and other church members, the Hodges began 45-minute Wednesday night tutoring sessions. They started the program in May of last year, took a break for the summer, and started again with the new school year.

Tutor Lorraine Smith helps student with a math problem.

Wake County School Superintendent Bill McNeal has encouraged Wake County's faith community to create tutoring programs similar to this to boost student achievement.

"The program is set up to help children of various ages with their homework," said Dr. Holloway. "We have tried to pull in adults who have special skills, especially in math, science, reading, and writing for the younger kids. They try to help the kids do their homework and help them with particular problems. They have been pretty successful so far. We have a good group of kids who come through here most Wednesday evenings. It has been a success."

Dr. Holloway is an education advocate and he sees the tutoring program as part of the church's mission.

"You look at the statistics and you see how poorly African American children are doing in comparison to others," said Dr. Holloway. "If you have half a heart, you certainly want to respond to that."

Superintendent McNeal has encouraged Wake County's faith community to establish programs to help meet students' educational needs. Students in need of assistance attend elementary and middle school Accelerated Learning Programs, another 21 days of instruction during the school year. Summer academies and community learning center programs are being created to help students meet new promotion standards. In 1998, the Board of Education established a goal that by 2003, 95 percent of third and eighth grade students would score at or above grade level on state End-of-Grade testing. In order to meet that goal, student achievement must improve.

How can your church, synagogue or place of worship be involved?

Adopt a school and become part of the school Accelerated Learning Program team
Train to be literacy coaches using the Readers to Achievers model
Start a tutorial program at your church with the literacy and math models
Train parents to be literacy coaches at home with their children
Establish computer labs in the church, synagogue or place of worship for students and parents
Provide a meal for Saturday Accelerated Learning Program classes or snacks for after-school Accelerated Learning classes
Encourage parent involvement through newsletters, bulletins, and other traditional communications with members
Make learning materials for Accelerated Learning Program kids
Be a child advocate and mentor
Help a school achieve its school improvement goals

For more information contact Toni Cooper at 713-0556.

Friendship Chapel Baptist Church is more than 135 years old and has more than 600 members. Holloway has been the church's pastor for 18 years.

"We've always been concerned about our kids and how they are performing," said Dr. Holloway. "Then to actually see the test results, recognize that these kids are going to start taking the tests, and to know there are requirements now they will have to meet to move forward, it has an impact on our wanting to make sure that kids are prepared."

More than 20 children enter three rooms along a hallway in the new church building. Two adults assist three middle school students pouring over their homework, books and papers spread across the table. Six students are in Tom Hodges' math class. While Hodges talks to a first-time student, the rest of the class tackles homework and math work sheets. Younger children fill a third room. Part of the class writes, seated at tables by the wall. Another group circles Janice Hodges who is reading a story about a princess, a stack of mattresses, and a bowling ball.

"I work in a large room," said Mrs. Hodges. "We have one section for children who need help with homework. With the other children, we do a reading exercise. We explore the basics of learning, things that they can take from church into the classroom. We practice listening skills. I tell them, 'Listening is such a big part of learning. Paying attention to your teacher is a big part of learning. If you don't know an answer, what do you do? You raise your hand. We try to get the kids comfortable about asking questions, so they don't feel insecure. Not knowing the answer, knowing that you don't know, is knowledge in itself. In the classroom, our children are sometimes hesitant and we're just trying to build some of those skills."

Tutor Janice Hodges reads to students.

"At the beginning, we were talking about whether we were really having much of an affect," said Mr. Hodges. "We only meet about 50 minutes a week. One thing I found is that if you meet consistently, you will see some results. That's the key. One thing I try to work on is to teach the kids how to study. You need to focus. I help kids with their math. Granted they have been in school all day, but they have a hard time focusing. We're working on math, but we are also working on getting them to focus, getting them to concentrate."

Students are excited about coming to the Wednesday night sessions. And Mrs. Hodges says the children are finding ways to help each other.

"Just to see them reading, a couple of students might stammer or stumble, but better readers in the class help them," she said. "We have students from all different schools and the bonds they've created between each other! When they ask, 'Did you finish your homework?' I'm like, 'Oh. This is so good!' They just feed off of each other. They're really doing it themselves. That's something that came out of it that I had not clue would happen: kids helping kids."

Tom Hodges says some of the students attending the sessions are already successful in school, but all the students benefit from working together.

"Students just need that pat on the back or that push," he said. "We tell them, 'You can do this. You have to do it.' In order to succeed in this world, you have to have a certain amount of intellect these days. With computers and the advancements in technology, you have to have a certain amount of intelligence to make it."

Tutor Tom Hodges talks with first-time visitor about math.

"People pay you for what you know and that's what we want for our kids," said Youth Minister Barry Young. "We want the children to have knowledge. When they go out into the world of work, if they don't get a job, we don't want it to be because they don't have the knowledge. We want to equip them with the basic skills. Myself, growing up, I didn't take education seriously. That's why I tell my boys I'm so hard on them about their education. You have to take it seriously. I'm going to do everything in my power to help get them the best education they can have. I want the same for my church family, the kids that are here in this church. I'm their youth minister and they are all my kids."

Hodges and his wife credit Pastor Enoch Holloway, Youth Minister Barry Young, Lorraine Smith, Cherise Jackson, Tenerian Montigue, Valerie Holloway, Sandra Jackson, Debra Ellison, John and Monica Humphrey, and Jason Mears for their work in making the program a success.

The Hodges say the volunteer tutors are earning their reward. They have already begun receiving reports of their work having an impact in the classroom.

Janice Hodges explained, "One day I was walking down the hall in the middle school, and someone said, 'Mrs. Hodges, do you help with the tutorial at the church up the street?' I said, 'Yes." She said, 'I teach math and there's a young man that came in today so proud because he was the only one who knew how to do our math problems. When I asked him how he had learned to do it, he said, 'I went to tutorial last night and Mr. Hodges helped me do my math.' And the teacher said, 'Thanks.' That made me feel so good."

The church supports children and youth with a summer camp, a mentoring program for high school students, and other church activities. Dr. Holloway said their new building may provide the space to open a preschool and eventually a computer lab.