Cluster Tutoring invites you to volunteer as a tutor and make a difference in a child’s life. Research shows that tutoring and mentoring help students as they face the many academic and social challenges of growing up. Students who participate in Cluster Tutoring have shown an impressive record of high school graduation and college attendance.
Cluster Tutoring has provided free one-to-one tutoring for over 25 years. Each year, more than 100 volunteers work individually with students from the Austin community to help them with homework and reading skills. With students on our waiting list, we always need more volunteers.
As a volunteer tutor, you don’t need special training, just a willingness to help a child learn. Tutors often find they get as much out of the program as students. The atmosphere is supportive, friendly, and relaxed. Tutors receive extra support through a reading specialist and volunteer math coaches. Most tutors are adults, but high school students make wonderful tutors, too. And it’s a great volunteer project for high school students applying to college.
Cluster Tutoring meets from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on either Tuesdays or Thursdays. Our students are in grades K-12, but most are in elementary school. The commitment involves one 90-minute session a week from late September through mid-May. Volunteers come Tuesday to Pine Avenue United Church (5460 W. Augusta in Chicago) or Thursday to First United Church of Oak Park (848 Lake St.).
Information sessions for new tutors will be at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7, and Tuesday, Sept. 12, at First United Church. For more information, call 773-378-5530 or send an email to clustertutoring@clustertutoring.org. You can also learn more at our website, http://clustertutoring.org.
Karen Heller
Volunteer tutor and board president
Cluster Tutoring, Oak Park