After School Tutoring Workshop

Tutoring workshops, capably led by Rev. Stanish Stanley, have done much to strengthen the growing After School Tutoring (AST) program at the Peace Center located in South St. Louis city. Even though CFNA has been blessed with a sizeable number of capable volunteer tutors, it is always in the process of recruiting more as student participation continues to grow.

Approximately 100 New American elementary and secondary school students from eight different birth nations (Nepal, Bhutan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Yemen) participate in the AST program. They are tutored and mentored by volunteers from LCMS congregations, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis University, Vianney High School and elsewhere. All of the tutors recognize this as an excellent opportunity to share their academic knowledge as well as their faith. All of them also appreciate these opportunities to personally get to know and befriend these New American students.

These workshops have been offered on a regular basis, most recently on February 15th and March 22nd. They serve as excellent venues to meet, greet, share tutoring experiences and provide critical insight for the improvement of this ministry. Encouragement and fellowship are definitely a part of these gatherings, all of it very much enhanced by pot luck suppers complete with ethnic specialties.

Skill giving, capacity building and new ideas are always a part of the workshops. For example, the “parachute game” recently suggested by Marge Schrieber quickly caught on with the students (see video below!).

No workshop would be complete without expressions of appreciation for the work of these committed servants. To be sure, CFNA remains deeply grateful for the services of these gifted and generous people.

From information provided by Rev. Stanish Stanley