Through the One-2-One Tutoring program, Assistance League member volunteer, Donna Burnett-Albu, provides weekly literacy support to students at Walt Whitman Elementary School in Pontiac.
Hazel Park art students and their teacher Nancy Sly (center with “S” shirt) are grateful for Assistance League’s Link to Creative Teaching support that enabled them to create a social justice mosaic for the Grand Rapids ArtPrize contest. Marjorie DiLiddo, Assistance League past president (far left) and Mary Conti, Assistance League member and liaison to Hazel Park High School (second from left) are proud to support student education and expression.
Caring Assistance League members and community volunteers are improving literacy and promoting lifelong learning to local students through the educational and philanthropic programs supported by Assistance League of Southeastern Michigan.
Assistance League volunteers work with students and schools to maximize learning and provide a supportive educational environment through two hallmark programs: One-2-One Tutoring and Link to Creative Teaching-both of which serve to boost study skills, self-esteem and success in young learners.
“Reading and learning are the gateway to everything in life,” said Marjorie DiLiddo, Assistance League past president (2016-17). “We are making sure that young learners have a positive and supportive environment as they gain confidence in literacy, which leads to confidence in life. We are so proud of our Assistance League education efforts that touch one child at a time to build a better community.”
In the 2016-17 school year, the One-2-One Tutoring program touched more than 400 students, kindergarten through fourth-grade, who received weekly literacy support, free take-home books, and meet-the-author assemblies to promote reading. The foundation of the program is weekly, personalized literacy tutoring, run by Assistance League volunteers who reassure budding readers by teaching beginning sounds, word families, sentence structure, creative writing and content understanding. Since its formation in 1996, the One-2-One program has improved literacy for more than 10,000 children in Southeastern Michigan, and continues to show the importance of individualized attention.
Donna Burnett-Albu, Assistance League member volunteer, chaired the program at Walt Whitman Elementary School in Pontiac. Karen Elliott and Sue Hastings co-chaired the program at McGregor Elementary School in Rochester. “We know that reading skills are the foundation to other learning and we are dedicated to helping students along their academic successes,” Burnett-Albu said.
Another Assistance League program, Link to Creative Teaching, provides enrichment activities to teachers who are committed to helping students dig deep into the curriculum and find their own passions. Since its formation in 2002, Link to Creative Teaching has benefitted more than 50,000 students.
During the 2016-17 school year, Hazel Park High School visual art teacher, Nancy Sly, received Assistance League funding to allow 14 students to create a human rights mural, which is featured in the prestigious ArtPrize contest in Grand Rapids.
The human rights mural features 30 tiles that focus on the universal right to education and equality. It will be featured at Fountain Street Church, Sept. 20-Oct. 8, as part of a social-justice-through-artwork collection that demands basic human needs be met, diversity respected, and freedom of expression and action fostered. The theme of the Fountain Street Church ArtPrize collection is: Art to Change the World; Inspiring Social Justice. Teacher, Nancy Sly, said Hazel Park students, with support from Assistance League, have explored topics that include: the right to seek a safe place to live; we are all born free and equal; freedom of thought; and food and shelter for all.
One tile in the featured mural focuses on this quote from Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to the change the world.” Assistance League volunteers agree whole-heartedly.
