Would you recommend Midtown Educational Foundation - Metro for girls - Midtown for boys?
What's great about volunteering with MEF, is that it's an easy time commitment, it's structured well (which makes it easy when you're there), and most of all - working with the kids is great. You have interaction with the family, other tutor/mentors, and everyone is very friendly. Since I've started, three friends and 2 co-workers now volunteer with MEF too, and they all have other friends starting - which says a lot about the program. Just don't get cocky if you play dodgeball with the kids. Sure, you can throw harder - but you're also a bigger target!
This is my fifth year volunteering as a tutor-mentor at the Midtown Center for Boys and I cannot recommend it enough. The boys program is a once-a-week commitment and is very simple -- sports, tutoring, setting goals and a character talk. (a tutors stands up and talks about a virtue, such as honesty, perseverance, citizenship, etc.) You follow-up once a week with a phone call to hear first-hand from your student, and his parents, how he is doing at school and on his goals. It's amazing how this simple interaction, consistently applied, does so much. I personally have seen the strides that two students have made over the years. And what do I get? Every tutor-student relationship is different, but I have had the opportunity to watch two boys grow into responsible young men before my eyes. All the tutors I know have had similar positive experiences. Tutors leave when they get married or have a kid of their own, not because they aren't enjoying it. Can't recommend MEF high enough!!!
I have been a tutor at Midtown for the last three years. I volunteer for a couple of hours on Monday evenings during the school year. It has been a very rewarding experience. It has been great to mentor and befriend my student, his goal is to be the first in his family to attend college. It is also a great environment for networking with those with common interests especially if you are new to the area.
