With wet hair and droopy eyelids, 30 Northwestern students stumbled through the doors of a computer laboratory in the Technological Institute early Saturday morning.
As they checked their e-mails or slowly sipped vending machine coffee, smiles appeared on their faces as third-, fourth- and fifth-graders hurried into the lab and headed toward their tutoring buddies.
The NU students and the rambunctious children from Willard Elementary School are part of the Owls Adventures in Learning Program organized by Willard teacher Fran Livatino two years ago at the request of the school’s Parent Teacher Association. The program was developed to help pupils who have difficulty in school.
“The program has a focus to close the gap in education,” she said.
The children who attend regularly enjoy the one-to-one relationships they have with their NU buddies — and the children’s weekly attendance is “the best assessment of the program,” Livatino said.
Willard teachers refer pupils to attend three six-week Saturday sessions to get extra practice with math and reading skills. This spring a new component — Computer Capers — was added to the program. The computer classes meet at Tech and allow pupils to explore technology.
The new class has not been the only change to the Owls program this year. More students have become involved through NU’s student-led volunteer group, Organized Assistance by Students Investing in Service. McCormick senior Andrew Pang was the contact who brought OASIS to Owls.
Pang, a second-year volunteer for Owls, wants more NU students to participate.
“Last year student participation was weak — maybe five or six (volunteers) every week,” Pang said. “There was not much publicity out about (Owls).”
This concern resulted in the addition of Owls as a weekly OASIS site, which was led by Pang and included about 20 regular volunteers. Tutors meet with the same pupil on a weekly basis.
“(For the Computer Capers session) the mouse is in the hands of the students and they are free to click around,” Pang said. “Tutors help them navigate and are creative about how they help them.”
One example of this creativity came from Chung Lee, an NU alum who had an interest in working with children, Pang said. He made a Power Point presentation that shows how to maneuver around the Internet.
Livatino said this type of creativity has made a world of difference to the program.
“It’s not so much the teaching,” Livatino said. “It’s those young people who give up their Saturdays and have a different approach that have made the program successful.”
The idea for a technology-based session originated during a parent outreach program last year.
“Parents said their kids needed more exposure to computers,” Livatino said.
The Willard teacher contacted NU Prof. Bill Kath, a former Willard PTA co-president. Kath said he sent an e-mail to NU administration requesting the use of a computer lab, and the administration was willing to help.
The program receives financial help from the Evanston Community Foundation, which allows Livatino and other volunteers to buy supplies and breakfast for the children.
