Indianapolis prosecutor one of many volunteers through IUPUI’s ‘Good Friends’ tutoring program

By Lyn Mettler

For the past four years, Newman has volunteered at IPS School 84, Joseph Bingham Elementary School, working with two different students through their fourth and fifth grade years. Through the IUPUI Good Friends program, Newman is assigned a student who needs extra help at school.

“So much that I see in my work is negative,” said Newman. “It would be a nice compensation to be able to help a kid who’s in trouble go in the right direction.”

In the Good Friends program, teachers pair volunteers with their students who would benefit from one-on-one mentoring and tutoring. Volunteers are able to choose a grade level and a school in their community and must commit to spending one hour a week with the student during the school day.

During that hour, Newman works to spark in his student, a fifth-grade boy, the desire to read and to learn. Every week the two sit down and take turns reading a book to each other. They recently finished reading Moby Dick.

“It’s the look that he gets in his eyes,” Newman explained. “You can see he’s imagining what it’s like to be on lookout at the top of the crow’s nest. They start to get into the story enough that they start to express the voices the way the characters would.”

While reading, Newman makes note of words that the student has problems with and helps him to use them in a sentence. He then quizzes him on the words the following week.

Newman doesn’t just consider himself a tutor, he tries to develop a real relationship with the students. Last year, for example, the two read the Disney dinosaur book and then went to see the movie when they were done.

And he says he can see the results of his efforts. “For me it’s really the little things,” he said. “He told me that he’s taken to reading the newspaper everyday at school. Now, I quiz him on news stories every week.”

Developing a relationship, according to Newman, also means always being there for the student. He makes sure never to miss a session. “For many of the children we see, people don’t live up to their expectations,” he said. “To make this commitment, you must be willing to commit to that

child every week.”

Newman encourages others to volunteer with children as well. “This city is known for a lot of things,” he said. “It would be nice to be known as a city that uniquely reaches out to children through volunteers more than any other city.”

The Good Friends program began in 1992 and helps hundreds of students each year. Tutors must be at least 18 years old and do not need to be affiliated with IUPUI. For more information about how to become a tutor, please contact Heather Lockett at 317- 274-5060 or hrlocket@iupui.edu.

http://www.iupui.edu/~alumrels/goodfriends/