Initial Information, "Great Expectations", "A New Hope", Etc.

Background Information

The Lexington Public Library is a service that consists of one central library and five branches that cover the Lexington area. The goal of the service is to provide the community with multiple services to help get them through obstacles in life. Some examples include offering editing equipment, resume writing help, and day care centers. The library is truly dedicated to improving people's lives. I'll be serving the Village Branch specifically, which runs the Homework Help service. The Village Branch opened up in 2004 and immediately saw that young students needed help with their homework. Thus, the Homework Help service was established. This service offers anyone from grades K-12 tutoring or other educational help in math, science, reading, and social studies (although I'll primarily be helping kids in elementary school). After partnering with the Martin Luther King Academy for Excellence in 2011, the Village Branch helps 40 kids a night on average! This organization is dedicated to helping these young individuals. Think about it. There are about 2,100 students a semester that are gaining knowledge, expanding their intellectual horizons, and preparing their lives for the future to come. This organization is planting the seeds of success in these kids. What I can help them with here can impact their lives in the near future and maybe even farther off in time. Isn't that exciting?

The entrance to the Village Branch library

Some Expectations

What I believe is going to happen is I'll be assigned kids who are struggling in specific areas of study. Although I prefer math, I'm pretty good in all of the other areas, so I think I'll still be able to help them no matter what problems the kids may have. The student(s) and I will sit down and talk about what problems we're having and go through it one step at a time. I may also read something with the kids or play games with them.

My Hope

When I help anyone with their studies, my main goal is to make sure whoever I'm helping actually learns the material. It's one thing to just get through the problem and finish it so you don't have to deal with it anymore; it's something completely different to actually learn what problems you're having and fixing them instead focusing only on the given problem at hand. Once I finish with somebody and see that the student has learned something new, it really makes my day. My goal when tutoring isn't finishing the problem, it's teaching whoever is doing the problem how to get through it. I want these kids to exercise their brain, learn something new, and prepare themselves for the future. I hope that every kid I help will learn something new. That is my hope.

For anyone who wants to check out their site, you can go here.

Until next time,
Jacob