Teacher forms tutoring program for local homeless students

“I tell my students, ‘find a spot where you can concentrate,’ and they didn’t have that,” Wertin said. “I tell them, ‘find a table or desk to sit at,’ and they didn’t have that.”

The rooms homeless students live in only have space for a bathroom and two sets of bunk beds. Wertin started to think about parents who share those spaces with them. They are working to get a job, put food on the table and find a place to live.

“I thought, ‘Who was helping them with their homework?’” Wertin said. “It was eye-opening to me… I wanted to start the program that could help kids feel positive about school and education at a time their families are concentrating on bigger issues.”

Wertin, a teacher at Blue Valley’s Liberty View Elementary School in Olathe, started a tutoring program at the Salvation Army. On Thursday nights, children from preschool age to high school come to “The Student Center” and gain help from teachers and a number of adult and student volunteers. For an hour and a half they get one-on-one tutoring for homework, reading and learning games, plus encouragement.

Since the program started nearly three years ago, Wertin said, the student center has served about 50 students from Olathe, Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission and Kansas City Mo., school districts.

The Student Center could not have started at a better time, said Laura Flynn, housing services administrator for the Salvation Army. This year, the six Johnson County school districts reported they had identified 576 homeless children and youth in their systems, according to a report from the Johnson County Continuum of Care on Homelessness.

“In the last year alone Johnson County had a 78 percent increase in homeless children in Johnson County schools,” Flynn said. “Once they are homeless they lose an entire grade point in their average. At (the center) there is encouragement for the well-rounded part of their education they are not going to be able to get because of the situation they are in.”

Each time the Student Center is open, parents are able to take their own free time. But Wertin also allows them to stay and talk to teachers. One of Wertin’s main goals is to build relationships with parents. Sometimes parents share with her that they did not finish school or did not have a positive school experience.

“I want them to see a positive role model in a school setting, so when they leave they know they can turn to the schools for help,” Wertin said.

Stacy, a parent of three children who attend the student center, said Thursday has become the day she looks forward to every week. When Thursday arrives, her children are excited to go study at the center, she said.

“They have done so much,” she said.  “They all have so much one-on-one time. It is not a fight to sit down and do homework. It has been great.”

Her 8-year-old son, Jeremiah, said the center has helped him with multiplication and working on “big math problems.” But the reason he looks forward to coming each week is because “it’s fun,” he said.

Doug Lassman, a Student Center volunteer from Olathe, has a background in math, so he often helps students work on challenging problems, he said. But he also has completed puzzles with elementary school students and read to preschoolers.

Many of the families are only at the shelter for about three months. When students leave, it is always bittersweet, Lassman said.

“You want them to move on to something better, but if they move on it means they are leaving,” he said. “It is good they are gone, but it is not good to see them go.”

Parents often tell Flynn about how important the Student Center has been to their families.

“We had one parent stop by who said their child would not have passed last year if it had not been for Deb and her teachers,” Flynn said. “I do not think she realizes the difference she is making with the homeless children of Johnson County.”

The experience has opened Wertin’s eyes, she said. She hopes others will think about starting similar programs close to where they live, or at least remember that everybody comes from different types of homes.

“What you see on the outside is not always going on at home,” Wertin sad. “It is really important to make the school a safe, good place for every kid.”

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