|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tutors Tackle TAKS
6/21/2007
 At Ryan Middle School in Houston’s Third Ward, teachers and students are preparing for another round of examinations scheduled the fourth week in June. Passing the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS test, is mandatory in order to proceed to the next grade. The test has earned the ire and frustration of teachers, parents and students alike prompting action by Texas legislators. But any changes they do make this session will not affect those students studying for the exam today.
Assisting eighth-grade students prepare for the math portion of the test are a handful of volunteers from UST, including Eric J. Brown, a junior double majoring in theology and Catholic studies. Brown typically does office work in Campus Ministry. However Sr. Maura Behrenfeld, Campus Ministry coordinator, saw an opportunity for community outreach and assisting the students. “Sr. Maura told me ‘I’d prefer for you to work [at Ryan],” Brown explained. So for the last two weeks, he, along with fellow students Allie Righthouse, Nicole Keith, Cimela Kidonakis, Julio Morales and John Simons have made the short trip over to the Third Ward and worked with the students as they reviewed how to find the value of x, calculate surface areas and identify congruent angles.
Since he took upper level math courses, tutoring the kids would seemingly be a cinch for Brown. He came up against a challenge he had not anticipated: no electronic assistance. “I had to remember how to do things by hand without a calculator!” Brown admitted.
His work involved identifying students who appeared lost and then working one-on-one with them. Brown had a two-fold approach in his tutelage. One involved reducing the steps taken to solve a problem “I always try to teach shortcuts,” he said. Recognizing that different students resolve problems differently, he also demonstrated to them the multiple approaches one can take to arrive at a correct answer.
Even though the results of their efforts won’t be known until the exams are graded, by a different measure the volunteers have already succeeded. According to Ethel Hawkins, the coordinator of the volunteer tutoring at Ryan, “The tutors from UST’s Campus Ministry are a blessing to the students. The inner-city students of the Third Ward face home challenges that prevent them from being successful academically. The UST partnership is bringing encouragement and hope to the students at Ryan Middle School.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
