Last semester, the Morgridge Center for Public Service, along with United Way of Dane County, AmeriCorps and area school districts, revamped its Achievement Connections program to reach more underperforming high school students in the Madison area.
The program has been in Madison for four years but expanded greatly in the fall with the help of student volunteers like UW-Madison sophomore Libby Hallanger-Bernstein.
Achievement Connections was created in response to many Madison area high school freshmen struggling with Algebra I, which is one of the main predictors for future success, according to Jason Burke, the program’s campus coordinator.
“I love algebra and I love to help kids,” Hallanger-Bernstein said. She added the volunteer position seemed perfect because it blended her interests so well.
Burke also mentioned the program provides students with an opportunity to serve off campus.
“One of the ways I think the campus community can benefit from involvement in this program is it gives students a way to give back and engage with the Madison community that gives so much to the university,” Burke said.
Four Madison high schools currently host the program, and more than 65 student volunteers joined last semester.
Hallanger-Bernstein said watching the students grow makes the program worthwhile.
“We keep track of their progress every week,” she said. “It’s really rewarding to see when they make clear progress.”
What sets Achievement Connections apart from other tutoring programs, Burke said, is the opportunity that volunteers have to create lasting personal relationships with their students.
“We do very focused one-on-one tutoring where each volunteer meets with the same students every week,” he said. “That way they make personal connections and form role model relationships.”
One-on-one interactions also allow volunteers to make each tutoring session their own and personalize their solutions to challenging situations, like when students aren’t motivated or struggle to relate to the tutor.
“It’s hard because math isn’t that funny, but I usually try to joke around with them and keep it fun,” Hallanger-Bernstein said. “We’ll make fun of the problems they’re doing and joke around about how the teacher is trying to make them suffer.”
While Achievement Connections has seen an influx of tutors over the last semester through partnerships with student organizations, Burke said they still need volunteers.
“We’ve gotten a lot of students, but we need a lot more,” Burke said. “The high school students are still coming in for help, and we’re stretched pretty thin.”
