Beyond Frontiers
Newsletter for Frontier College at the University of Toronto St. George Campus
Winter 2010
On behalf of Frontier College’s staff and the St. George Campus Organizational Team we would like to welcome back all of our dedicated volunteers. The first semester of the 2009/2010 academic year was incredibly successful and all of our programs are well underway in their respective communities. Thanks to the tireless work of our volunteers, staff, community partners, and funders, Frontier College is stronger and more accessible than ever before. Together, we are reaching communities in need and helping to build a healthier, more independent and more literate nation. Keep up the great work TEAM! Ghazal Niknazar |
Frontier College’s St. George Program is recruiting more volunteers for most of the program sites for the winter and spring session. There will be a tutor training session in mid- or late-January for new tutors. If you know of anyone who would be interested in becoming a tutor in one of our programs, tell them to go to our website http://utfrontiercollege.wordpress.com for more information and to download an application form. Or, they can email Frontier College at utoronto@frontiercollege.ca. |
Frontier College Website – www.frontiercollege.ca
Did you know that Frontier College twitters? We also have our own Facebook group. You can join either or both from the Frontier College homepage and follow current news and events. For example, you can follow the link to Chatelaine magazine where you can read the stories of six Frontier College learners who were paired with mentors to write about their lives and how they experienced problems with literacy.
You can also check out the online catalogue of the Frontier College New Readers Bookstore which lists a wealth of resources for tutors, trainers and adult learners. You can view the catalogue and order directly online.
Lastly, as a Frontier College volunteer, you are entitled to sign up for the Member’s Zone, a password protected site. Just click on the Member’s Zone icon on the home page, request a username and password, and you will be able to access various Frontier College resources, take part in online forums and contribute ideas and feedback with volunteers and staff across the country.
| 2009-2010 Events | |
1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling
Our years of partnership with the 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling Team produced yet another successful event. Many community members and volunteers came together to enjoy a wonderful night of storytelling, good coffee and warm conversation. What’s more, all attendees took part in a wonderful effort to keep alive oral traditions of story telling. |
Scrabble Night in Canada
Our annual SCRABBLE fundraiser for literacy is coming soon, early in the new year. Prizes, donated by our generous supporters, will be awarded to the top fundraisers and scorers. Official pledge forms will be available for downloading in January. Get out your scrabble board and start practicing now! |
Site Updates
| Native Women’s Resource Centre Program |
We’ve had a great year so far at the Native Women’s Resource Centre Literacy Program. I’m sure that all of our volunteers will agree that we are gaining just as much as we give during our time at the Centre. Though tutors usually help with math problems, reading comprehension or writing skills, for me, it’s the small, non-academic things that have really stuck with us. These experiences have made me realize that Frontier College is about so much more than learning to read. In my third year of volunteering with Frontier College, I still find I’m learning new things all the time. This year at the Native Women’s Resource Centre tutoring program we had the pleasure of meeting many amazing women, learning more about Native culture, and seeing first-hand that it’s never too late to go back to school.
For example, a few weeks ago one of the learners told me that she wanted to go to college, but that she had no idea where to find information or how to apply for college. So, I showed the learner how the application process worked. We wrote out a list of questions she had about the program, and set up an appointment for her to meet with a school guidance counselor. The learner has now submitted her college applications and is very excited to start school in September.
It really is true that you don’t need to be a math expert or perfect speller to be a good tutor. It’s about attitude, dedication, and passing on knowledge about things in life that many of us take for granted.
Leanne Rasmussen – NWRC Site Coordinator
| Danforth CTI Program |
Seven volunteers with Frontier College have been working in a number of classrooms at Danforth Technical Collegiate this year. The tutors have proven very committed to volunteering on a regular basis. At a community service fair Ken Martin and I set up a booth to inform students about Frontier College’s presence in the high school, and about future opportunities.
In one classroom that I volunteer in, I have been working regularly with my learner. This learner’s teacher had informed me that this learner usually does not complete their work in the class. I enjoyed working with this student because with a little bit of encouragement and help the student began to complete all of the assignments.
The teachers and the school staff have been very kind and welcoming!
Deandra Beauchesne – Danforth CTI Site Coordinator
| Heydon Park Secondary School |
This year Frontier College’s tutoring program Heydon Park has eleven tutors helping our learners out with various school subjects including English, science, arts, and social skills. Tutors are mostly students from the University of Toronto, but other tutors are also teachers and even award winning authors. Tutoring styles range from classroom-based to one-on-one tutoring depending on the needs of the students from week to week. Our tutors and students have made great connections and we look forward to another rewarding semester.
Mary Shan – Heydon Park Site Coordinator
| Newcomers Homework Club Program |
I always feel so good after leaving tutoring every Wednesday. It has taken me awhile to put my finger on it, but I’ve come to realize what I love about it and what makes it unique from other tutoring experiences I’ve had. The kids love being there, they want to use the time to learn, and you can tell they appreciate it, get a lot out of it, and are enjoying themselves! That may sound obvious, but I’ve been a tutor before and this time it is different. These kids don’t necessarily have the chance to get help with homework at home. Frontier College provides the opportunity for these kids to get the help they need, help they can’t get elsewhere. You can see that on the faces of the kids as they come in, as they sit and learn with you, as they smile, and as they give you a high five when they have got the answer! It is indeed very special and very unique.
Sarah Blanchard – NHC Tutor
| Newcomers Adult ESL Program |
We have had a wonderful year with the Adult ESL sessions at the Newcomer’s Program. This is largely thanks to the amazing dedication of all of our volunteers who attended the sessions with regularity, always prepared to help their learners in all aspects of their literacy needs, regardless of the late nights, traffic, weather conditions, or TTC inconveniences.
The learners’ needs in the program range from the most basic levels of ESL, to relatively advanced academic needs for learners preparing for their GED assessments and college applications. Thanks to the drive of our learners, the perseverance of our tutors, the support of our community partners, and everyone’s incredible hard work, we look forward to yet another successful year!
Ghazal Niknazar – Newcomer’s ESL Program Site Coordinator
| Alex Park Pre-Schooler Program |
This is the third year of our Alex Park Pre-schooler Program. In the fall semester of 2009, we had five volunteers and eighteen learners in total. Our 1.5 hour-long weekly program comprises three major components: Students start with story circle and then go on to the teaching session during which they practice spelling, writing, phonetics and basic arithmetic for half an hour every week. For the last twenty minutes of the program, learners usually play educational games such as Bingo, Scrabble, puzzles or charade; this serves as an opportunity allowing learners to not only practice their spoken English, but also to bond with their tutors.
Another change worth mentioning about this year’s Alex Park Pre-schooler Program is the increased tutor involvement in both the preparation and organization of our teaching program. Instead of having the Site Coordinator prepare all of the teaching materials and lead all the sessions, tutors now rotate to lead each week’s session. They receive the necessary training during the first month by assisting and observing the Site Coordinator. After that, each tutor is expected to lead at least one session during that semester where they are in charge of selecting appropriate teaching material, designing games and overseeing the class for that week. The main objective for this change is to encourage our tutors to be more active participants in our program and to allow them to gain both teaching and leadership experience. So far, the responses have been very positive. Tutors now feel that they are more involved in the program and have a more comprehensive and practical knowledge of the tutoring and teaching processes.
Meah Gao – Alexandra Park Pre-Schooler Site Coordinator
| Alex Park Homework Program |
The Alexandra Park Homework Club has had another great start. We have an enthusiastic and energetic group of children this year along with a really strong group of tutors that the children are all very excited to see week after week. Our homework club is really fortunate in that one of our volunteers, K., counts cooking as one of her hobbies. The children (and tutors) have been happy recipients of her delicious baked goods! With the children, it is always a pleasure to watch them learn and grow, and to know that we play a role in their learning and development. In particular, I was ecstatic to see the dramatic improvement in L.’s English skills. L. recently emigrated from China two years ago. When I met her at the homework club last year, we were working on basic literacy skills. This year, I merely shadow her as she reads and does her work comfortably at her own grade level. I also recently caught her playfully taunting her peers, something that I would never have imagined her being able to do last year!
It is very rewarding to watch the children develop and we look forward to continued fun and success at Alex Park in the new year!
Trevor Kwok – Alex Park Homework Club Site Coordinator
| Alex Park ESL Program |
This year, we have 7 tutors and 25 learners in the program and enrollment is still open. We expect to see more learners join our program in the new term. Some of the learners are mothers with babies and sometimes they bring their babies to the class. When the babies wake up and cry, the mothers are given an opportunity to take care of their babies.The mothers are given the opportunity to learn English from their tutors while caring for their children.
“Word banks” have proven really popular among the learners. They often ask to bring their word banks home and review the new words. We often have to make extra copies because the learners run out of pages so fast!
Iris Wu – Alex Park ESL Program Site Coordinator
Volunteer Stories
| The great work of Frontier College could never be realized without our volunteers. It is due to the dedication and hard work of our exceptional volunteers that Frontier College has become the oldest and the largest national not-for-profit literacy organization in Canada.
We would love to hear from you and share your stories as tutors with other volunteers and volunteers-to-be. You can send your stories to utoronto@frontiercollege.ca to contribute to the story of Frontier College from coast to coast. The following are some of the stories from the tutors for the 2009-2010 school year. |
| Let’s Read Together |
Tutoring at the Alexandra Park Homework Club has been a continuously invigorating experience. Having been at the location for two years, I feel that the children not only benefit from the academic assistance provided by the tutors, but also enjoy their presence to some extent as mentors. In being encouraged to learn and gain opportunities to interact with older students, the kids have made their own little attempts to improve their literary skills, especially in grammar and spelling. While it sometimes remains tricky encouraging most of the kids to pick up a book, the learners at the Alexandra Park Homework Club have nonetheless continued to actively seek and benefit from the assistance and support of the tutors.
-Jason
| Happy Medium |
In my experience with tutoring children, I have found that personal attention and encouragement are positive stimulants in helping the learners complete their homework and gain confidence in their abilities to grasp difficult concepts, especially in math. However, I have also found that too much attention devoted to a child can hinder their ability to do work independently. Indeed, children can become reliant on the tutors for the answers rather than trying to understand the concepts. I have observed that it is effective to have children observe a model of how questions should be approached – enacted by the tutor – and to work on the following questions accordingly and independently. As my learners and I worked through the problems, I provide less and less help while encouraging my tutee to take greater responsibility. I use this method to foster self-confidence and independence for my tutees.
-Jeff
| Math… or More Math? |
One evening, we had a grade 6 learner who had finished her homework early. She was given a math worksheet on long division to do, but she complained it was too easy. I asked her a few math questions which she answered quickly and correctly. To give her something to keep her occupied, I wrote down two long division questions: divide 41,287 by 32 and divide 241,250 by 243. I left her working on them for a while. When I returned later, she had a solution for each, but missed the correct answers due to a couple of simple calculation errors. I told her what I had given her were “bonus challenge questions.” She opted to do the worksheet she was originally given rather than get more questions from me.
The solutions to the division questions: 1290 r.7 and 992 r.194, respectively.
-Stephen
| Winning at Life |
Tutoring as part of the Newcomers program is a rewarding and interesting way of giving back to the community and empowering others to meet their goals. The learners I work with are lovely women who work at improving their spoken and written English. They have a great sense of humor and a determination to make a better life for themselves in Canada.
-Emily
| FUN for All |
I enjoy being a part of the homework club. After a long day at work, (and Mondays are long days for me) it is so nice to walk into an elementary classroom filled with kids who are so excited to see you and have you help them with their homework. Whenever I ask my learner about, their response is “FUN!” Then they pull out their homework and being to explain to me, at mach 10, what assignment we have to work on.
Once, one of my learners was having a difficult time answering questions to a worksheet because they were having a hard time starting the sentence. After I explained how to use the question to frame and answer and begin the sentence, my learner was able to fly through their homework. They were so happy that they could answer all of the questions on their own.
-Lee
| Summer Job Opportunities with Frontier College |
If you’re looking for a challenging and exciting summer job, Frontier College offers three programs for which it recruits summer students:
- The Labourer Teacher program most resembles Frontier College’s original literacy program, where volunteers work side by side with labourers and offer literacy support after work hours. In the “LT” program, you are working with seasonal farm workers primarily from Mexico and the Caribbean. Placements are on farms in Southern Ontario and LT’s earn the minimum wage paid by the farm. Placements generally run from mid-May to late August.
- The summer Aboriginal Camps program hires counsellors to work with kids in isolated First Nations communities in the far northern parts of Ontario (similar programs are also now running in northern Alberta and BC). Working in teams of 4 or 5, you will organize and run engaging literacy-based activities for children and youth in these communities. Counsellors are paid a set honorarium for their work and all transportation costs are covered by Frontier College.
- The Summer Reading Tent program provides an opportunity for children living in high needs communities in Toronto to be exposed to books, stories and fun literacy activities during the summer. The program is organized by two paid coordinators, and supported by a number of volunteers. This program also takes place in Halifax, Montreal and Winnipeg between June and August.
If you are interested in learning more about these summer opportunities with Frontier College, go to the Frontier College website at www.frontiercollege.ca and click on ‘Job Opportunities’ on the top banner or on ‘Programs’ for more information. The Labourer Teacher and Aboriginal Camps programs are recruiting this winter for this upcoming summer’s programs.
| Join the Organizational Team |
We are recruiting new members for the 2010 Organizational Team of the Frontier College U of T St. George program. The “OT” plays a key role in promoting, organizing and supporting the program, including recruiting, screening and training volunteers, and organizing literacy related special events and fundraisers. Work together with a like-minded group of committed
volunteers and help support the cause of literacy for all Canadians! If you’re interested in becoming a member of our team, contact your friendly Site Coordinator or Ken Martin (also friendly) at kmartin@frontiercollege.ca. You do not need to be a current university student to become a member of the OT!
| Frontier College 35 Jackes Avenue Toronto, Ontario M4T 1E2 Canada Frontier College: http://www.frontiercollege.ca/ Frontier College St. George Campus: http://utfrontiercollege.wordpress.com/ |
(Published: January 13, 2010; URLs updated October 8, 2010)
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