Rema was steaming through the math problems arrayed around the border of his homework page. In rapid succession, the eight-year-old, third grader correctly multiplied two single-digit numbers under the watchful eye of tutor, Tien Nguyen.
“Forty boxes within a minute,” Nguyen said when Rema was done, motioning toward the center of the page and a host of multiplication problems in individual boxes.
“That's so hard,” Rema said.
“You did it last time. You can do it,” Nguyen said. “You don't have to get to 40. What's important is you try.”
Rema and Nguyen are members of The Brainwave, a weekly tutoring program started in September at Warren Village. Fifteen students, ages 6-18, have been matched up with volunteer tutors.
Warren Village, located at 1323 Gilpin St., consists of 96 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for low-income, single-parent families. The intent is to make the families self sufficient. Adults receive educational assistance, career guidance, financial literacy training and help in securing long-term housing within two years of arrival at Warren Village.
Lilian Lara joined Warren Village in August 2015 as the coordinator of Kids’ Club, an enrichment program for children that includes a variety of activities, while their parents attend evening classes.
Family advocates, who are assigned to each family, alerted Lara that many of the children were falling behind in school and needed assistance with their homework, particularly reading and math. Lara said a drop-in program with a few volunteers to help with homework was poorly attended, leaving a basic educational need unmet.
“A lot of our children have moved around a lot, as is the nature of transitional housing,” Lara said. “They have either behavioral issues or social issues or trauma-related issues that make it really hard for them to either stay in the same school, stay with the same teacher or just kind of be able to focus on their school work.”
In July, Sarah Azibo was hired to assist Lara with Kids’ Club. Azibo designed and implemented a tutoring program at the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning, where she worked for seven years and has extensive private tutoring experience. She developed The Brainwave program, assessing each child’s needs, communicating with their parents and determining the best fit between child and tutor.
“My hope was that the kids, in addition to getting some academic support, would start to feel confident in their own abilities and have tools to feel successful,” Azibo said.
She draws up lesson plans for children who do not bring homework to a tutoring session and goes to the library for books tutors and students can read. But Azibo said the tutors rarely ask for a lesson plan or direction in a tutoring session.
“They’re fully ready and fully engaged,” she said.
Five students are on a waiting list, ready to join The Brainwave, with the addition of more tutors.
“And I’m sure that waiting list will grow, because there’s such a need,” Lara said.
The tutors are a varied lot. Camille Flournoy, an administrative assistant with an oil and gas firm, works with Alayiah, who is six. Alayiah enjoys spelling “C-a-m-i-l-l-e” on Flournoy’s forehead with a felt marker.
“Whatever’s exciting to her that day, we try to integrate writing into it,” Flournoy said.
When the pair began working together, Flournoy said Alayiah knew little more than the first three letters of the alphabet and now knows it in its entirety.
Nguyen, a medical student, is nearing the end of his dermatology residency. He grew up in Vietnam, in what he said was virtually a single-parent household, because his busy father was often not around.
“I needed a lot of mentorship outside of my mom because she had a lot on her plate,” said Nguyen, adding that help came from teachers, older children and relatives. “So, I understand how important it is to identify a mentor and get help along the way when you needed it. And I just wanted to be available to someone in that situation.”
Kiara, 17, a high school junior, has been working with tutor, Miranda Johnson. Johnson has focused on helping Kiara with her algebra two homework. Kiara said her grade has improved from a C to a B+ since she began working with Johnson.
“Math is a struggle for me,” Kiara said. “How she explains it, it makes me understand better than I can understand my teachers.”
The Brainwave meets on Tuesdays from 5-6:30p.m. The first 15 minutes are devoted to a community building game, like charades, which is an energy release, Azibo said, before the academics begin. The next hour is spent working, with at least 20 minutes of reading, followed by two other activities or subjects. The final 15 minutes are communal. The tutors fill out a form, listing what they and their student accomplished, what they are looking forward to next week, their greatest success, greatest challenge and anything needed next time.
There’s a verbal component to this wrap-up when Azibo asks, “What was your success today?” Most students eagerly raise a hand, including Rema on this December night. That daunting prospect of completing 40 multiplication problems in one minute far behind him, Rema proudly proclaimed, “I finished 44 problems in a minute.”
