EMU Students Tutor Local Students

"I want to start a crusade in your life...to dare to be your best." This quote by William Danforth is the motto of the Alternative Learning Center (ALC). The ALC works with students that are not succeeding, for any number of reasons, in the Rockingham County public school system. It consists of eight middle school students and 14 EMU tutors in the back corner of the library basement. The ALC began a mere four years ago with only a few students and it hopes to expand to nine students next year.

Middle school students, mainly eighth graders and a few seventh graders, in the Rockingham County public school system are recommended for this program if they are having problems in a traditional classroom. Zane, a seventh grader, has appreciated the move to the ALC. He says he is learning more there because there are fewer kids and it's easier to concentrate. Another student echoed this reason for better learning, adding that he was involved in fewer fights now.

Another advantage is the extremely low student to teacher ratio. There is one teacher for the two seventh grade students and generally two teachers per subject for the six eighth graders. It is no longer an option to sit in the back of the classroom and go un-noticed.

The material covered is quite comparable to the regular schools. The textbooks are the same and they all need to take the same standardized testing. There is little homework assigned as most students have lost the motivation to do it. The material is covered in class, and occasionally some projects are worked on outside of class. This program, with its minimal homework, shorter school day, and the Royals' Den as a cafeteria may seem like an easy way out, but it is not a reward for previous bad behavior or bad grades. They admit that they have to study more at the ALC than they did in their old schools, thanks partly to the small classes. Some of the students have a two-hour bus ride one way to come to this program. It also takes school down to the bare essentials, eliminating classes previously enjoyed, like computer skills and shop classes. The only extra class is gym.

Sandy Whetzel, the ALC coordinator, calls her tutors "wonderful." The 14 EMU students work anywhere from one to 10 hours a week teaching science, math, language arts, social studies, or any combination of these. They receive the same outlines as regular teachers and teach off of those, changing the lesson plans to fit any special needs. Sandy oversees the entire program and deals with discipline. Since the tutors are only a few years older than their students, making the line between friend and authority figure slim, it is necessary that Whetzel be the disciplinary figure.

These relationships help the EMU students to branch out, making connections off campus. Jenny Hochstetler says she will come back to teach next year, since she really cares about the kids' futures. The tutors work for the ALC for a number of different reasons. Some may be interested in a career in teaching and want some practical experience. Jodi Scheidel is not majoring in education but has tutored in the past and enjoys the one-on-one approach. Sometimes she feels underqualified to teach; however, she says, "I think that even if we do not have degrees, we can help these students. I think that just the more one-on-one feel to the ALC makes a world of difference in these students' academic performances."