Janis Hasche is one of Re:Start's volunteer tutors who teaches writing on Wednesday afternoons. She’s also an editor and contributing writer for The Pulse, Chattanooga’s weekly alternative paper. In this week’s issue (Dec. 1, 2010), there is a piece about her experience as a tutor at Re:Start. Continue scrolling to read the article.
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Beyond the Headlines – Re:Starting Heroes
Written by Janis Hashe
December 1, 2010 – 3:40 pm
“Paul” is a man in his mid-40s. He had a good job as a forklift operator, he tells me, for 20 years. He never graduated from high school, never thought it was important. His job supported his family and he took pride in it. Then his company moved to Canada, taking his job with it.
“Diane’s” age is hard to guess, but the lines on her face show her life has not been an easy one. She tells me she married early, dropping out of high school, “even though my mama told me not to,” she says, shaking her head. “But I was young and thought I knew…” Then her husband would not let her return to school. She had kids, then got divorced. It’s a familiar story.
Volunteers and teachers at Chattanooga’s Re:Start program hear these kinds of stories everyday. But as a volunteer, what really impresses me about the people I tutor is that their stories are not by any means the full sum of them. These people are resilient, full of hope—and determined to change their lives.
As we sit in a small room talking about how to master writing an essay in 45 minutes, I am awed by their openness and willingness to try. I think about what it would be like to be in their position. What it would be like to try and literally re-program their brains to be able to perform this task, which they have to master to obtain the precious GED. Brains that resist, no longer as elastic as children’s.
Topic paragraph, three supporting paragraphs, conclusion.
“Think of it like a math equation,” I say to Paul. “These elements are added together to create the whole.”
He struggles when we try brainstorming on the three subtopics for the supporting paragraphs. He is easily distracted—he distracts himself and gets off the track. I make suggestions…but how much to help? He needs to learn the process, not just one answer. I keep an eye on the time, suggesting that each time we do a new essay, he spend the first 10 minutes brainstorming and doing a brief outline of what he wants to write about. After four or so tutoring sessions, he is doing so much better. He works on his essays at home and brings me the revised versions. His spelling is far superior to that of many of my students at Chatt State. I tell him so, and he laughs.
Diane tells me I am helping her, but I am not so sure. Like Randy, she has a tendency to distract herself. I sympathize—this is not easy—you have to force your thought patterns into an order that has not become habit, but I gently return the conversation to the job at hand. Topic: “What’s the best job you’ve ever had and why?”
“What did you like about the job?” I ask her when she’s decided which one to pick. “Let’s brainstorm on that.” She can think of a couple of reasons but begins to stall out when asked for more, for the why. I prompt, but again worry that I’m “helping” too much. She starts to write, and it begins to flow a little for her. “Don’t worry about everything too much,” I suggest. “We can go back and correct later.”
This volunteer job has, as they always do, given me so much more than I have given it. The people I am working with are smart people, they are motivated and they work hard. I think about how much I’ve taken for granted: a family that supported education and supported me through college, a lifetime of occupations that require constant learning, friends who read and write for a living (and constantly talk about it).
It is my privilege to work with the people I tutor. And if even a few gain enough from it to make their odds of passing the GED easier, it will have been my pleasure to be able to help a little—and to have gotten to know them. It has been humbling.
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