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!