When Ms. Edith shows up to Hope Horizon to volunteer as a tutor in the elementary academic program, she often comes with games in hand. She’s taught the students how to shuffle cards, including how to do the bridge; play go fish and even introduced them to a new game, taco goat cheese. But the games are not just for fun, they’re also for learning.
“Any game is educational, as long as it teaches them fairness, taking turns,” she says. The games help students practice their addition, subtraction and mental math skills.
She’s been involved in the community since her own kids were little, coaching soccer and leading Bible studies. She started to volunteer at Hope Horizon because of the justice series, classes that HH leads for churches to help people understand the systemic issues that people in their local community face and examine how we can respond as Christians. For Edith, the justice series was eye opening and inspired her to get more involved
Six Years of Volunteering in East Palo Alto
Over the past six years, Edith has volunteered in our spiritual life programs, our academic programs and in our garden. She’s continued to volunteer because she loves the kids and their humor, fresh perspective, and excitement about learning that they bring.
Her approach to tutoring is creative and fine-tuned to each child. For one kid who was overwhelmed with the amount of math homework he had to do, she would cover up some of the problems so he could focus on the one he was working on. She loves seeing how proud kids are when they learn something and the confidence that it builds, especially when they learn to read.
Some Favorite Reads
Some of her and the students’ favorite books include: the Elephant & Piggie books by Mo Willems for their hilarious drawings; the Jack Series by Mac Barnett because Jack is always getting into trouble; Dr. Seuss books for their rhyming and imaginative drawings; and books about animals - especially ones about dogs. Thanks to Spark Church for their generous donations of the complete series of Piggie and Gerald and Jack books. They are being read and enjoyed by many of the kids!
Her advice to people thinking about volunteering, “just try it and see if it’s a good fit for you.”
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