The last Saturday Tutoring session of this school year was March 28th. This means that it was also my last time volunteering there, since I will be in college next year.
In this final post, I would like to write a little about education in the city of Cleveland.
The Cleveland Municipal School District is the second largest school district in Ohio and serves nearly 39,000 students at 96 different schools.
To me, one of the most staggering statistics that I found on their website is that 100% of students receive free or reduced lunches. It makes me wonder how these kids are able to eat over weekends, breaks, and summer vacation.
Another interesting statistic is the fact that over two-thirds of students who attend Cleveland Public Schools are black. Hispanic students make up 14.4% of the student body which actually is a higher percentage than I initially expected, since I've never worked with Hispanic kids at Saturday Tutoring.
To look up academic-related statistics, I went to the Ohio School Report Cards website. By doing so, I learned that Cleveland Schools met 0 of the 24 indicators of student success. In most subjects, the majority of students did not receive a passing grade on their OGTs and achievement tests. Even worse, test scores have been declining over the past several years. Additionally, only 64.3% of students end up even graduating from high school, which is not surprising considering the extreme poverty within the district.
After doing reading and research about education in Cleveland, I have realized even more how important my volunteering is.
While I'm sad that I am done volunteering at Saturday Tutoring, I am also excited to see what volunteer opportunities there will be for me in college. I hope to continue tutoring kids, specifically in math, and maybe even take a few classes in education, since the subject is really interesting to me. I also hope that my career involves giving back as well. Whether I become a doctor, a teacher, a psychologist, or something else, I have learned through Saturday Tutoring that I really enjoy working with kids and giving back to others.
