I volunteered for the Danville Church-Base Tutorial Program my freshman year at Averett to fill the service learning requirement of Averett101. I fell in love with the program after seeing how much it meant to the children that we were there. After only coming one time a little girl wrote me a letter thanking me for coming and helping her because nobody had ever taken the time to work one on one with her before.
After the class was over I still wanted to be involved in my community and applied to be a Bonner Leader. Through the Bonner Leader Program I was able to partner up with the Danville Church-Base Tutorial Program. After meeting with the direct of the program, the principle of G.L. Johnson elementary school, and multiple other people, I was able to open my own tutoring cite at URW Community Federal Credit Union.
One of my students who always comes in eager to learn and get her work done came in upset one day because she had made all F’s on her midterm. You could look at her and tell she was disappointed in herself and that she did not want me to see her midterm report. After talking to her one on one and looking over her grades she said she does not do well in the classroom because the teacher moves through the material at a faster pace than she could keep up with. After working with her for several weeks on math and reading, she brought in her report card and did not have any F’s. She was so proud of herself, when she walked into tutoring she was so excited to show me her report card. Her reaction made me really feel like I am making a difference in these children’s lives and I think that is what the DCBTP is all about. This is really such a great program and I am so glad I get to be a part of it and work with such amazing children.