When Putnam City North High School senior Michael McEver walks across the library at Wiley Post Elementary School, close at his heels are two 3rd-graders. Their eyes are bright with excitement and there is, amazingly, a greater-than-normal spring in their 3rd-grade steps. A tutoring session is about to begin, and the young students are bursting with anticipation.
McEver is one of seven tutors from Putnam City North that visit Wiley Post each day. Working in small groups, tutors help students in grades 3, 4 and 5 master math concepts with which they are having trouble.
In January, students took tests to determine what concepts they had mastered and what concepts they still needed help with. Every day, the small groups that meet with tutors are composed of students who are having trouble with the same concept.
The tutoring sessions, each lasting 15 to 20 minutes, are lively and focused. Pencils scribble quickly and questions fly out as the group works through a math problem. What’s the price of bicycle helmet? What’s the price of the baseball cap and glove together? You multiply 25 times what to get the answer?
A big part of the tutoring sessions are manipulatives that help students work on concepts in concrete, hands-on ways. Some students use bright blue calculators, peppering their tutors with questions as they tap the red and white keys. Other students have small white boards and quickly calculate and display their answers.
"For some students, manipulatives are a way to help information stick," says Principal Stephanie Treadway.
The manipulatives are available to tutors thanks to teachers who stock trays with supplies for the tutors to use. The school’s Title I teacher, Melissa Reeves, makes sure the tutors know how to approach the concepts they’ll be helping students with.
Although the value of the tutoring won’t be known until after results of April’s state testing arrives, indications are positive.
"I can tell some kids are doing better in some areas," McEver says.
Reeves says McEver’s comments are on target.
"Teachers are constantly monitoring and assessing, and they’re seeing a difference. I hear positive comments from teachers about students are picking up concepts," Reeves says.
Putnam City North sends 20 student tutors to three elementary schools in the district. For McEver, tutoring at Wiley Post was a chance to come back home.
"I went to school here. I wanted to come back and see how things are going and see if I could help out," he says.
A first baseman on Putnam City North’s baseball team who consistently bats.300-plus, McEver says tutoring is in some ways more enjoyable hitting and fielding.
"Baseball has always come easy to me. This is more of a challenge. I can accomplish more here," he says.