Lydel will be entering the 11th grade this fall at Chandler Academy High School in Harper Woods with good standing, thanks to a tutoring program offered through Leland Community Affairs last spring.
When his physical school closed down in March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, he transitioned to remote learning like all of the students in Michigan. Lydel was struggling with geometry and Spanish, so when Dr. Antionette Pearson from Leland Community Affairs called his mom, Fercheryl, about the tutoring program, the family was interested. “He needed help, so it was a good option,” Fercheryl says.
According to Dr. Pearson of Leland Community, the program was designed to assist students who were struggling with the online work assigned as a result of the pandemic. “The support provided by the tutoring program included additional practice and support with completing classwork, supporting the organization of online work, and helping families create learning environments for their students at home.”
The one-hour sessions were conducted via Google Meet and scheduled based on the availability of the student. Tutors ranged from teachers to college students to business professionals with a specialty area, like advanced math, such as calculus.
Lydel was like many young people who did not like virtual school. But, he did like virtual tutoring.
Through the program he received personal help in the two subjects he struggled with the most. “It was one-on-one, so I could understand it better,” Lydel says.
He says that he could actually ask more questions than he could when he was physically in school trying to get help from teachers: “The teachers are all busy with other students, so it’s kind of hard.”
Lydel passed Spanish and landed a B in geometry.
Leland Community Affairs’ mission statement encompasses a belief that “all citizens should be given the opportunity to develop their potential in academic, physical, social and emotional well-being to become an important person to the support of the family, and the stability of the community in which that citizen lives.”
Looks like it did just that for Lydel.
