Local youth, students bond while studying

Giving back to the community is one way that Georgia College students are embracing their time in Milledgeville. After Kids Ministry—a Christian-based group out of The Wesley Foundation—stopped meeting, a few Georgia College students took it upon themselves to continue tutoring three of the children the ministry aimed to serve.Senior sociology major Heather Luyk and senior nursing major Casey Parker and senior rhetoric major Jack Webber are very involved with the youth in the local Milledgeville community. They were all involved in Wesley’s Kids Ministry, but sadly watched it dwindle. Even without a program, these volunteers recognized that there was still a need and have taken it upon themselves to continue tutoring local youth.

Luyk, Parker and Webber take each of their Thursday afternoons and devote them to three young children – two girls and a boy. These children come from a family that lives in the local Housing Authority. The three siblings were a part of Kids Ministry, but had no other group similar to go to after the program ceased. The older two, Jayleen and Kayleen, a boy and a girl are nine-year-old twins, and the younger girl, Shania is eight years old. Each child is paired with a college student and they go to the library on Thursday afternoons for tutoring, homework assistance, playtime and often a trip to McDonald’s afterwards.

Brooks McAlister | gcsunade.com

Senior sociology major Heather Luyk spends her Thursdays tutoring a girl from a local housing authority, Kayleen. Luyk tutors along with with senior nursing major Casey Parker and senior rhetoric major Jack Webber.

The volunteers bring the children a snack, help them with their homework and make sure they feel comfortable with all of their school material. After that, they play educational games on the computer, read books and check out books to take home. In addition to their regular Thursdays at the library, Luyk, Parker and Webber also take the children out whenever they have free time during the week.

These tutoring sessions go far beyond just tutoring and teaching the children educational lessons. Luyk, Parker, and Webber represent role models. The children are at-risk for growing up an environment with potentially inadequate parental control and negative influences very early on. Luyk, Parker and Webber work to counteract the negativity by creating a positive environment. instilling values and giving the children a friend to trust.

“The Housing Authority is just seconds away from where we live. I don’t know how I could not get involved with kids who live there,” Luyk said. “ I think it is important to empower them. It’s not about seeing them as charity or a statistic, but it’s a kid who deserves equality, education, and love. They deserve to just be kids.”

Luyk, Parker and Webber have all been connected with these children for about a year now and plan to continue tutoring and playing with these children through graduation.

“The most rewarding part is that Jaelyn has begun to trust me and see me as a positive influence in his life and he actually trusts me to have his best interest in mind,” Webber said. “I love going every week because I know that he is blessing me and I know that I am making a positive impact on him and his family. I have really come to love those kids more than anything, and I make myself available to give them an outlet during the week.”

Giving as little as a couple of hours per week can make a huge impact on a person’s life. It is too easy to forget how many blessings are bestowed upon us. Luyk, Parker, and Webber teach these children various life lessons, but all say how much they have learned from the kids as well.

“I know how busy I am, but I could not turn down this opportunity. I felt strongly called to tutor these kids and it has been great,” Parker said. “Some days it’s hard to handle, but I always learn something new. It feels so good to be something for these kids that they don’t already have.”

Posted by Brooks McAlister on Feb 10 2011. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.