Volunteers Needed!

Attention Tutors and Friends: We are using the following email as a

method of recruiting tutors for our programs. This letter is just a

way of spreading the word about the need for wonderful volunteers

like you. We would appreciate it if you could forward this letter to

friends and co-workers, and that they do the same. We understand

that some of you may not have the time to volunteer, but help us

spread the word so that someone who might not know about our program

can find out more. Thanks in advance for your cooperation:

For Love of Children (FLOC) is a non-profit organization committed to

helping families, and specifically children in the community. As a

part of FLOC’s overall mission, the Neighborhood Tutoring Program

(NTP) serves over 500 students in the Shaw community through one-on-

one tutoring in a highly structured and successful reading and math

tutoring program.

We’re looking for volunteers to tutor children and adolescents in the

Shaw neighborhood once or twice a week. The following program times

are available:

Saturday 10am-12pm (elementary age children)

Tuesday 6:00-8:00pm (teen-agers)

Tuesday / Thursday 9-11am (1st – 4th Grade)

Tuesday / Thursday 12:30-2:30 (8/9th grade)

Tuesday / Thursday 3:00- 5:00pm (1st – 6th grade)

Monday / Wednesday 3:00- 5:00pm (3rd – 6th grade)

If you’re interested in tutoring please contact us at 202-349-3509 or

ntp@flocdc.org.

Why we need your help!

A student at FLOC’s alternative high school recently took her SAT.

Her score was a 530-combined. This score put her in the 70th

percentile of students in D.C. This means that 70% of students in

D.C. score below 530 on the SAT. And these are the higher achieving

students who take the SAT. Students in low-income areas of D.C.

suffer the consequences of problems with public schools, and the

difficulties of growing up in an environment that does not

necessarily value education as a top priority. I’m writing to see if

anyone is interested in volunteering to tutor some of these students.

Shaw is a low-income area in NW where 51% of the households are

headed by single females, and 36% of children live in poverty. In

Shaw 40% of high school students drop out of school, and 41% of the

residents have less than a ninth grade education. Almost all of our

students test way below grade level, and many simply can’t read. As

you know, it’s hard to get a good job when you can’t read. And it’s

even harder to move out of poverty if you can’t find a job.

Our Program Works!

Our program started in 1995 with 6 students. Over the years, our

students have flourished. Thanks to the hard work of everyone

involved, students in the program increase their math and reading

levels on average by 1 year and 3 months for every 22 hours of

tutoring. Think about that, come one evening a week, meet for an two

hours, and one lucky child has the opportunity to improve their

reading and math skills a full grade level and more in only six

months. It also helps that these are just such great kids.

Several students give back to the program in many ways. One special

student began with us as one of the original six students. She

graduated from high school in 2002 and is scheduled to begin her

sophomore year at Marymount University in the fall. She has been

giving back to the program as a tutor to an adorable student in our

Saturday morning program for the past two years.

We’re now looking at reaching out to students across the city. But

in order to do this, we need more tutors. With your help, our

organization seeks to provide the children in our program with the

tools and motivation necessary to escape the cycle of drug abuse,

crime, unemployment, and poverty that has afflicted so many in their

parents’ generation. The ability to read well, to excel in school,

and the desire to learn are prerequisites to breaking this cycle. We

need volunteers to join us in this effort!