My West End Community Center Experience

Rapping Delight!

2007-04-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while Dereese like to show off all that we've learned in previous tutoring sessions. Dereese always teaches me how to woo the ladies in exchange for some reading and writing lessons. In this rap we worked on more tricky letter combinations while Dereese taught me a thing or two about impressing all the cute honnies out there!

My name is Patrick please love my flow,
That everyone is
about to know,
I shake it up top,
And even down low,
Never tell me to stop,
Never tell me to drop,
Just listen to my man,
Rap like we know he can,
Dereese in on my team,
He looks kind of mean!
So please take some time,
And Listen to him rhyme...

I get all the ladies
Racing in my mercedes,
I know they call me baby
But please don't touch me lady!
I like riding in BIG rims
But I don't have time for my Tims,
NOW AND THAT'S A WRAP!

Anything you can do I can do better!

2007-04-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

Like most kids, Dereese gets really tired of reading the short stories in the End of Year Test Prep workbook. So every once in a while I bring in a story for Dereese to read. We then read through story, brainstorm possible endings, and then I have Dereese finish the short story. To help Dereese sound out the bigger words we oftentimes work on recognizing tricky letter combinations. This is an excerpt from a story we wrote while working on the "ea" letter grouping. (Dereese wrote the last paragraph.)

Title: The Best Test of Basketball Skills
Authors: Dereese and Patrick

Patrick was leaning against the basketball hoop eating a big piece of meat. Patrick knew he was going to win! After all, he was a lot meaner than Dereese. Dereese ran up to Patrick dribbling the ball...criss cross, in between the legs, behind the back...and then bounced it off Patrick's head.

"I hope you're ready," Dereese yelled!
"Oh, you're dead!" Patrick yelled back!

Patrick could never know what was going to happen next. Dereese was criss crossing Patrick then he took a shot and made it. Patrick could not believe his eyes! "Mama no!" Patrick exclaimed. The girls went crazy because Ree Ree made it! The shot was so perfect that the net lit on fire and Patrick had to call the fire department.

2007-04-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

To help Dereese recognize certain letter patterns in words, we oftentimes focus on reading and writing rhyming poetry. Dereese and I performed this poem at the end of the year celebration.

My Best Girl
By: Dereese

The cutest girl in my world:
She drives me crazy,
Just call me baby TODAY,
You rock my world now,
You make my world so fabulous,

REMIX!

The girl is mine,
And she's so fine,
She's always on my mind!
Oh man, what is the time?
I think I have to go,
But keep this on the low,
I don't want them to know!

Ladies man!

2007-04-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest challenges you will face as a tutor is encouraging the kids to open up to you. Many of them have overcome great adversity to get to where they are today. To try to help Dereese open up to me (while also working on his writing), I devised a daily worksheet to help share his feelings.

Today is a _____ day. I am feeling ____and _____ because today I___________________. One thing that I did really well today was ____________________________. One thing that I hope to do better at tomorrow is ___________________________________________.

He responded...

Today is a good day, I am feeling great and happy because today I got a date with a fine girl. One thing that I did really well today was to get 7 digits from a seventh grader. One thing that I hope to do better at tomorrow is to see more seventh graders' seven digits!

Make it happen!

2007-03-26T00:19:00.001-07:00

Now that the weather is so nice all the kids at the center are really anxious to get outside and play (sound familiar?). Understandably, the sunshine made it had a really hard for us to stay cooped up inside for our hour long session and work on boring math practice problems. So we decided to think outside the box or, as Dereese always calls it, “make it happen!”

Upon agreeing that math could be a good time if we put our minds to it, Dereese and I ran outside and used chalk to outline a Cartesian coordinate system on the parking lot behind the center. Then, inspired by Dereese’s love for football, we imagined the parking lot was Wallace Wade Stadium. I was the star quarterback and he was my number one receiver. We began running routes, using the starting points and ending points on the plane and then calculating the slope of the resulting line to see how many steps were in the pattern.

Right next to us, another volunteer was working on multiplication tables by having her tutee jump out the product of practice multiplication tables. The ease with which they jumped 6X8 would have amazed even the most athletic Dukie!

Don’t let the warm weather shy you away from tutoring. Some of the best fun at the sun can be found at a local tutoring center near you. Make it happen!

Come one! Come all!

2007-03-18T21:18:00.001-07:00

Notice: Everyone has the potential to be an amazing tutor! Varieties of personalities, interests, and skills, combine to make each tutoring session dynamic and extremely unique.

Think you are too shy? Don’t worry, many students at the center feel much more comfortable and learn more readily with more quiet and reserved tutors.

Feel like you just don’t have enough time? You can volunteer anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at any of 10 local schools and after school programs. For more general information email Project Child Coordinator Liz Henderson (liz.henderson@duke.edu) or click on the link on the upper left of this page for more information.

Need a ride? Project coordinators of the Duke Durham Initiatives (see link at the top of page) can help arrange car pools.

Forget how to calculate a slope? You can work with kids of all grades and ability levels and even formulate your own lesson plan to teach the tutee something you love!

What Makes You Special?

2007-03-05T00:10:00.000-08:00

In a campus atmosphere that seems to only highlight resume worthy accomplishments, I oftentimes find it very easy to forget the characteristics and talents, within each of us, that make us all truly individual. Fortunately, the atmosphere at the West End is totally the opposite. Whether it be your unique ability to draw, sing, hop-scotch, make jokes, or (as in my case) dance, all the kids at the West End Center embrace you for your efforts to positively contribute to the overall West End experience. Each time I enter the center I gain a sense of reassurance, one that is absent on the front pages of the Chronicle, that my actions are really causing change. In some ways, being greeted with a sea of smiles and an innumerable amount of requests to do the “Chicken Noodle Soup,” provides, if even only for a moment, a sense that I am a unique contributor in a mission to help those in need. The West End Center is a great place to find a sense of belonging and appreciation.

Week 2: The return of SNACKTIME!!!!

2007-02-26T00:47:00.000-08:00

Before the tutors and tutees hit the books each day, everyone gets together to enjoy snack time! Whether they are munching down on some oranges or bartering for the treasured bag of Cheetos, all the kids take this time to unwind, chat with the tutors (usually teasing us about UNC's recent triumphs or Duke's slide in the rankings), play some hop scotch, or gossip about their new crushes! Besides laughing hysterically at all the kids' antics, I usually try to take this time to check up on Dereese's social life and just be a good friend. From our heart to hearts, I have concluded that most of Dereese's struggles in school are more a problem of being misunderstood by his teachers or having low, even non-existent, expectations rather than a difficulty understanding subject matter. I have learned that tutoring is about so much more than integers and probabilities, it is about truly caring about a child with unlimited potential. My experiences have shown me that the kids benefit most when they trust their tutee, when they know that the tutee will always be there to listen. Whether it is a listening ear when the kids talk about their home lives or some experienced advice regarding their newest crush, tutors can help their tutees in ways far beyond dictating multiplication tables and grammar lessons.

The First Week at the Center

2007-02-18T17:07:00.000-08:00

I first entered the West End Community Center, a local Durham after school program, as a mandatory service learning component of Foundations of Education 100. For 2 hours each week, I worked with Dereese, an amazingly street smart self proclaimed "balla" who has endured greater hardships in 11 years than many of us will in a lifetime. In return for my poetry and reading lessons, Dereese taught me how to CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP (with a soda on the side), how to woo the ladies, and-most importantly- how to persevere in the face of adversity.
After a semester of dance parties (as part of number line lessons, of course) and basketball shoot outs (as a probability lessons), I could not wait to return to the center this semester, but this time as a volunteer. During my first day back at the center, one of the brilliant 3rd graders approached me and asked if I could bring all my friends, so that he too could have a tutor. This is the reason why I am hoping to share my experiences with you. Durham public school district and after school programs are desperately in need of volunteers to tutor struggling students. Please consider getting involved! You can truly help change someone’s life forever!