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After
School Tutoring Program
"The
Mentoring Program gives kids a chance to show they really
can succeed at school and a reason to keep trying to improve
their lives. One of the main reasons this program works so
well is that the kids know they have a caring adult they can
call anytime so they don’t have to feel so alone with
their problems."
Who
We Serve
Why There Is a Needed
The Program
Success Stories
Our Location
How You Can Help
Contact the Director
Who We Serve
Elementary school and high school children from homeless or disadvantaged families.
Why There Is a Need
Statistics have historically indicated a higher school drop-out rate for children from low-income families where parents often feel trapped in a cycle of poverty and offer their children little encouragement to succeed academically.
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- Students
from low income families are six times as likely to drop
out as children from wealthy families. 8% of drop outs have
spent some time in a homeless shelter or in a juvenile home.
- Young
people who do not finish high school face reduced employment
opportunities and represent a high cost to society. Drop-outs
make up nearly 50% of the heads of households on welfare
and nearly half of the prison population.
- To
reduce drop-out rates, intervention at an early age is critical;
20% of students who drop out do so by eighth grade and more
than half drop out by tenth grade.
- African
American and Hispanic students make up the largest proportion
of drop-outs. (53% of children in the Mentoring Program
are African American; 41% are Hispanic).
- Building
one-to-one relationships between at-risk children and caring
adults in mentoring programs is one of the most effective
ways of bringing out a child’s potential and ensuring
that the child will make better choices. Mentored youth
are:
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46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
- 27%
less likely to begin using alcohol
- 52%
less likely to skip school
The Program
The Mentoring Program was established as an extension of the Summer Camp in order to maintain contact with at-risk campers and counselors throughout the year, help them to perform better academically and encourage them to attain a higher level of education.
The program provides individual and group tutoring in local libraries and a local high school two hours a day, four days a week. Children attend as they are able, but many come daily, craving both the academic support as well as the individual attention that so many do not get at home.
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On weekends, children participate in sports programs in the public parks. Trips to museums, local theater performances and other cultural venues are arranged when sufficient funding is available in order to provide enrichment and stimulation.
Older students receive assistance in preparing for SAT exams and are taken on weekend college visits. Each year, a growing number of participants enrol in college, some with the assistance of a scholarship program recently established by GCCC. In 2006, five students who formerly participated in the Mentoring Program graduated from college. One has returned to study for an MSW at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 2003-04, fifty students participated in the GCCC Mentoring Program and the number has now increased to 75 students. Most have shown marked improvement in their grades and an increased ability to deal with the many problems that low-income and homeless children often face.
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Success Stories
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E'shondra was raised by her great grandparents. When they died, she went to live with her mother, a drug addict who started stealing money from her to buy drugs. When she turned 16 years old, E'shondra moved out of the house, became legally emancipated from her mother and eventually moved into her own apartment in the Bronx. Although she held two part-time jobs to pay the $720/month rent for her one bedroom unit, she maintained a straight "A" average, was ranked second in her senior class and received several scholarships and awards upon graduation from high school. E'shondra needed to attend a local college so that she could maintain her apartment as she had no other home to go to for holidays. She was accepted at a number of schools, including Barnard, and chose to attend John Jay. Her eventual goal is to become a lawyer.
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D.J. was a troubled boy who first came to our Summer Camp at the age of seven. He was one of five children from a family who has been homeless on and off for ten years. At the age of 11, when he was in fifth grade, D.J. was one of the first children to enter our Mentoring Program. At that time he seldom went to school and had already repeated one grade due to poor attendance. Since joining the program D.J. has maintained a straight “A” average and a 90% attendance record. Now in 11th grade, D.J. acts as a mentor for younger children and has been a camp counselor at the GCCC Summer Camp for several years. |
Our
Location
Tutoring sessions are held at Roosevelt High School in Yonkers,
Will Library in Yonkers, Larkin Plaza Library in Yonkers and
at the West Hab Family Shelter in Elmsford. Bus fares are
provided to mentoring locations as most participants cannot
afford bus tickets.
How
You Can Help
You can help by making a financial donation to help cover the cost of field trips or by donating from 2-25 tickets to a sporting event, play, art exhibit etc.
Your group can sponsor an "Evening at the Prom" for a high school senior girl so that she doesn't miss out on this special event. Your donation can help pay for prom tickets, a prom dress, flowers and a share of a limo.
You can make a donation to the GCCC Scholarship Fund. In 2006, GCCC gave out six scholarships valued at $1,600 to $3,000 to needy students so that they could pursue their dream of attending college.
Contact
the Director
Director: Eileen Torres
Phone: (914) 949-3098
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