SLU volunteers tackle homework, big issues in St. Louis schools
When a flat tone sounds at 2:45 pm at Walbridge Elementary School, you might want to take cover. Tiny, pint-sized humans, filled with a ferocious energy accumulated over the course of an entire school day, burst through every door in sight, charging in the direction of the afterschool program.
Jessica Roberts, coordinator for St. Louis Public Schools, is unfazed. She knows every child by name. With the grace of an orchestra conductor, Roberts guides each child to his/her destination without missing a beat.
鈥淲e do the best we can with what we鈥檝e got,鈥 says Roberts. About 40 children attend the afterschool program at Walbridge, which is staffed almost entirely by volunteers. Since the fall of 2014, students from Saint Louis University come to offer homework help, though the lessons often go beyond simple arithmetic for both student and teacher.
鈥淲hen [the SLU tutors] can鈥檛 come, because [of an illness], the kids ask about them,鈥 says Roberts. 鈥淓specially when they have homework and I can鈥檛 help them.鈥 Roberts, one of two paid employees, already has her hands full.
鈥淚t has become to be about shared time and friendship, more than 鈥榡ust鈥 tutoring,鈥 says Elizabeth Corcoran, a junior at SLU and a member of The Overground Railroad to Literacy 鈥 a student-run group that recruits, schedules, and organizes their peers to volunteer at three Saint Louis public schools and three community centers.
In January, the students鈥 efforts were rewarded with three, $1,000 grants from the United Way of Greater St. Louis. The money will fund healthy snacks for the kids at Walbridge Elementary School, school enrichment programs at the North Campus community center, and computers supplies 鈥 three laptops, one printer, ink cartridges, and printer paper 鈥 so students at Vashon High School can apply to college. Overground also volunteers at Ashland Elementary School, The Sanctuary and Missionaries of Charity community centers.
Nearly all of the children in the Walbridge afterschool program are African-American; few of the SLU volunteers are. In a mostly black neighborhood, located about 20 minutes from Ferguson, MO, echoes of very adult realities percolate through the children鈥檚 playtime.
鈥淪ensitive topics come up a lot. They鈥檒l say: 鈥楬ands up, don鈥檛 shoot鈥 as a joke. They鈥檒l ask me if I know who Mike Brown is,鈥 says Corcoran. Her time at Walbridge has positively impacted the children as well as herself: she describes the experience as 鈥渢ransformative.鈥
Learning to talk about race with children, while not losing focus on their role at the schools, has been an unexpected challenge for the volunteers. The program began just one month after Michael Brown was shot; tensions were still running high in Saint Louis.
鈥淲hen hot-button issues come up, I try to listen and ask questions. One day, the kids were debating whether someone was 鈥榤ixed鈥 or white, I asked them: What do you mean by that? Is white good? Is white bad?鈥 says Corcoran, adding: 鈥淭hey bring up things about themselves that are hard to hear, but they really want to be able to talk about them.鈥
Every week, the volunteers gather to talk about their experiences at the 鈥渞eflections鈥 meeting. This semester, they are completing hour-long analytical exercises offered through the 鈥淯ndoing Racism鈥 workshop, addressing the 鈥渂ig鈥 questions and how to apply it to their service.
鈥淸Reflections] brings the service into your studies鈥nto your life. It contextualizes service,鈥 says Corcoran, adding: 鈥淵ou can do a lot of service without making 鈥榩rogress鈥 鈥 it has to be more than just observing.鈥
鈥淚 often tell the [other] volunteers that the biggest thing you can do is: be there every week. There鈥檚 nothing bigger than that,鈥 says Corcoran. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice [for the kids] to have one thing that is not a question: this person will be there.鈥
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Originally published in April 2015.