The passion for supporting students, whose parents struggle with helping them at home due to language barriers, and/or deficiency in their literacy skills motivated Mrs. O as Eunice Onaiwu is known by her students to establish an after school tutoring center. The certified intervention specialist, who runs an after school program, NewDay with HIM Tutoring spoke with the New Americans magazine team of Deba Uwadiae and Okon Ekpenyong about how her Nigerian cultural background, multi-lingual skills, and wealth of experience with diverse African cultures and traditions has enabled her to build trusting and lasting relationships with her students and their parents.

I am a certified intervention specialist with the Columbus City Schools district. I was a substitute teacher and taught elementary schools for almost 13 years before transitioning to teaching high school 7 years ago as an intervention specialist. I provide tutoring sessions to students who are struggling academically and students who are on or above their grade levels from Pre-kindergarten to high school, depending on the needs of the high school students. I provide services that include homework support, improving reading foundational skills, reading fluency, reading comprehension, writing skills, and math. I am a tutor who goes the extra mile for my students because I understand the challenges that many of our parents encounter in providing the academic support their children need at home. I tutor ESL (English as a second language) students and native speakers of the English language. Due to my Nigerian cultural background, multi-lingual skills, and wealth of experience with diverse African cultures and traditions, it has enabled me to build trusting and lasting relationships with my students and their parents. So far, my tutoring business is thriving as my students’ parents recommend my services to their friends and relatives.

NewDay with HIM Tutoring

The name of my tutoring business is NewDay with HIM Tutoring, which was set up in 2014, at a local library.

Motivation

I have always loved to help students right from my high school years when I used to charge my juniors a piece of chalk to tutor them. As an educator, I have always helped children in the circles of my friends and families. However, the motivation for setting up my tutoring center, officially, stemmed from my passion for supporting students, whose parents struggle with helping them at home due to language barriers, and/or deficiency in their literacy skills. For example, over 15 years ago, I taught a 5th-grade math class for a week as a substitute teacher. I met an ESL student from a French-speaking African country in my class. As I was teaching, I called on the boy to answer a question. He did not respond to me. His peers told me that the boy was “dumb” because he did not speak English. They reported that he could only say the cuss words. I explained to them that he was only repeating what he heard them say to him. Then I gave the students the math worksheet their teacher assigned to them. Each student requested calculators to use for their work. However, the ESL student did not know what to do because he could not read the directions on the worksheet. I asked him if he spoke French. The boy nodded his head and responded in French. I could see the excitement he expressed on his face! I explained what he needed to do on the worksheet in French. The boy did not use the calculator and finished his worksheet in less than half the time it took the class to finish theirs. The boy earned the respect of his peers that day! I had the opportunity to explain what “empathy” means to the class and that the boy was not “dumb,” as they labeled him. He learned the topic they were working on from his country but just needed someone to help him with the English language. On my way home that day, I knew I had to do something to help students like that boy in our community.

Another motivating factor is that I discovered that many parents are unable to support their children at home due to their work schedule and/or lack of knowledge of what their children are learning at school. As a result, many students are frustrated both at school and at home. I know that the extra support I can provide such students, both during and after their tutoring sessions with me, will enable them to improve their academic performances as they work towards their grade level standards at their schools.

ESL Students

ESL students go through several challenges to be able to integrate into the educational system in our schools. Such challenges include the American culture, their proficiency in the four literacy skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing; adapting to their new school environment, the new curriculum system, and the list goes on. Several ESL students come from non-English speaking countries in Africa and other parts of the world, which makes it even more challenging for them to integrate into the American school system than those from English-speaking countries.

Teaching

I began my teaching career in Nigeria before coming to the United States over 30 years ago. The combination of my teacher training from my colleges in Nigeria and America has equipped me with the skills and tools with which I can meet my students at their diverse levels of academic needs. I was a certified teacher from Oyo State College of Education and taught in a high school in Nigeria before coming to the United States over 30 years ago. I attained my master’s degree with a multi-age PK-12 licensure in TESOL (Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Ohio Dominican University, Reading endorsement from Capital University, as well as a multi-age PK-12 Intervention Specialist licensure (mild-moderate) from Ohio Dominican University. I have accrued more than 30 credit hours in addition to my master’s degree, which is regarded as a master’s plus status in my school district. These 30+ credits were the results of taking several college courses and attending diverse professional development trainings that have further equipped and seasoned my teaching professional skills and experiences.

Tutoring Center

Students are registered when parents complete the application/contract form at the tutoring center. Parents can schedule how many days and the time they would bring their scholars for their tutoring sessions. The tutoring center is open Mondays through Fridays, from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm, except on holidays.

Collaboration

Most of the students who have attended and/or come for tutoring struggle with reading due to a lack of the foundational skills needed to decode basic words and unfamiliar vocabulary. As a result, they are often 2-3 years (or more for ESL students) below their grade levels. Some are good readers but struggle with comprehension. Others have difficulty with math. When they are registered, their parents are permitted to notify their children’s teachers that I tutor their students. This enables the teachers to reach out to me for collaboration as we work in continuation of what the students are learning at school when they come to tutoring. The extra support I provided my scholars is not limited to their tutoring sessions at the center. My students are allowed to reach out to me via their parents’ phones when they are confused or need more clarity on their homework. However, tutoring is not only for students with academic challenges. Some of my students are proficient and even performing above their grade levels. These students are provided tutoring sessions to keep them challenged, especially in their areas of weaknesses. My students’ progress and academic success are celebrated daily at the center, no matter how little or great. Baby-step progress and improvement are NEVER overlooked. As a result, students are always excited to come in and share their good news with their group. Our celebration song encourages the students to put more effort into their academics and social behavior in their classrooms.

Literacy Skills

To be ready and confident in the classroom, children must have competent literacy skills which include reading foundations such as phonics and sight word fluency, reading comprehension, writing, and basic mathematical skills to solve word problems. The reading foundational skills enable students to decode unfamiliar vocabulary while some sight words are not decodable. As a result, they develop their fluency skills. However, some students can read but are unable to answer basic comprehension questions about what they read, due to lack of comprehension. Several students struggle with writing due to difficulty with writing conventions. In addition, some students struggle with solving basic word problems using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division because they are unable to read. Therefore, to be confident in the classroom, students’ needs in these areas must be met at the standard grade level.

Parents

I would like to encourage parents to be more involved and engaged in their students’ schools. When parents show up at Parent-Teacher Conferences and other school events, they can understand their school community better. Nothing is as important as their children’s academic success. I understand that the language barrier is sometimes a factor in some parents’ lack of involvement in their children’s schools. The good news is that some schools can provide interpreters for them. In addition, I encourage parents who are unable to provide academic support for their children at home to enroll their children in tutoring programs or find a private tutor, like me, for their children. More children are struggling, academically, at schools today than decades ago due to distractions and a lack of intrinsic motivation for learning. We MUST provide the help our students need to bridge the gap that is growing wider by the day in our communities NOW. Our seeds today are our future fruits. We can only harvest good fruits if we plant and nourish our seeds on good soil. The sacrifice will be worth the reward.

(Ms. Eunice Onaiwu can be contacted at 614-284-6211 to schedule enrolment for their children. The tutoring facility is located at 1890 E. Main Street, Suite 203, Columbus, OH. 43205.)

Support the New Americans magazine to continue to serve our community with precise news that affect the new American, immigrant and refugee community. https://paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=8LHFS78NRNJJY&source=url