Zoom Tutoring
How our program began
Refugee Ministries began a zoom tutoring program in September 2020 in response to pandemic online learning and the isolation experienced by the children in our program who had to stay home while their parents were at work. We found that this platform and our online materials were more effective than in person tutoring because of the distance between midtown and Clarkston so we have adopted it as a permanent program.
Who we serve
We currently have 50 students and tutors in grades 2nd through 12th with a few adult students. We have two tracks: English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), most of whom are beginners (this will be the majority of students we admit) and Academic Support in Reading and Math for students who have been in the US longer and speak English. We admit volunteers in grades sixth grade and up and are happy to provide service hours.
Our directors
We are grateful to have four directors who are teachers and education specialists in Special Education and ESOL (Brooke Minney, Texas), Reading (Michelle Hirschfeld, South Carolina), Debbie Leinweber (ESOL, Colorado), John Leinweber (Math, Colorado). They offer their time in new student and tutor placement, student assessment, materials training and tutor support. No experience in tutoring is necessary because our directors will provide you with the materials, training and support you need.
Our trimesters
In order to give our students and tutors needed breaks, we work on a trimester system and take school breaks and summers off.
Click Here for Our 2023-2024 Calendar
We ask tutors to give 12 sessions (reflected by our trimesters) at the same day and time each week. Preferred tutor time slots are Mondays-Thursdays at 4pm, 5pm or 6pm. We provide the zoom account that tutors are required to use. At the end of 12 sessions, tutors are welcomed to close the tutoring relationship or renew for another session. If the tutor needs to close, and the student wants to continue, we will get a new tutor for the student. At the beginning of each session we only admit 5 new tutors and students due to the challenges of setting our families up with technology and the time needed to orient the tutors and students. New tutor orientation slots for our next trimester will be available July 17-July 28th.
If you are interested in learning more about volunteering in our next trimester which runs from Aug 6-Oct 28, sign up here:
Sign Up Here