Taylor Felt
12th visit: 4/29/15 3:30 - 4:30
Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula at Belle Haven School
Diana Ramirez
dramirez@bgcp.org
Today was my 12th time tutoring Salvador, a fifth grader at Belle Haven School. Since my first visit, both of us have become increasingly comfortable with each other. My first time tutoring Salvador, I was worried about how I should speak to him, what exactly we would do and how to interact with someone so much younger than me. I could tell when I started working with him that he wasn't exactly sure how to interact with me either. However, over the past few weeks, I can tell he is becoming more open about asking me questions and telling me about himself in general. Today, he came into the room with a big smile on his face because he got a B on his 50 states test. Over my past few visits, I have been trying to help him prepare for this exam and I think it was rewarding for both of us to hear of the good outcome. Additionally, he asked me if I could tutor him throughout his sixth grade year next year. This was definitely one of the highlights of volunteering, knowing that my work as a volunteer is helping and that Salvador enjoys our time together even though we are working on schoolwork. Throughout my time at BGCP, I have seen firsthand their mission in action. The goal of the Boys and Girls Club is to bridge the gap between high income and low income families regarding academics. Many kids at the Boys and Girls Club can not afford outside of school tutors despite how much they may be struggling in a class. Even though I haven't been volunteering as long as some of the other volunteers, I have seen a great improvement in Salvador and his academic accomplishments and I believe that his success can be attributed to the Boys and Girls Club and the resources that they give him. I am genuinely excited to continue working with Salvador for the rest of the year and hopefully next year.
