Changing the Odds for Youth to Succeed in School

In February, CBS 6 reported on the disheartening effect virtual school has had on Central Virginia public school students. In its reporting, the station revealed disturbing grade failure data from local area districts comparing the first quarter of this year to last. Among the findings included, “the already struggling Richmond Public School (RPS) system school district that had 10% of kids failing two or more classes last year, more than doubled that number this year.”

“If the pandemic taught us anything, it has been that our youth need more support academically,” said Todd McFarlane, president & CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond (BGCMR).  “As a result, we shifted our resources and programs to provide more intentional academic help to our members.”

Since last Spring, BGCMR has launched several educational initiatives to support youth.

In April/May of 2020, we instituted “Academic Blitz,” which helped Club members reach the minimum completion standards by the end of the school year, providing youth with tools and support for distance and in-person learning. Overall, 39 of 45 students who participated in the Academic Blitz met the requirements and were on schedule to move to the next grade.

Over the summer, BGCMR expanded educational programming to include summer Math Camps. During these sessions, members participated in fun, interactive activities to help them improve math proficiencies.

“I was able to lead a small group of members with the proper safety protocols in place at our Northside Club,” said Sean Miller, COO of BGCMR. “By making the activities culturally relevant, they were able to grasp the concepts and skills. I was extremely pleased with their progress.”

When a new school year began, BGCMR provided more personalized educational support for several members that needed more support. Through its partnership with Journey Learning Labs, BGCMR has been able to offer one-on-one education for middle and high school youth to help them increase proficiencies in English and Math.  

In December 2020, thanks to a grant from the Cameron Foundation, BGCMR launched a pilot program at its Petersburg Club with Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of personal learning for students in grades K-12.  Led by Senior Program Director Brandie Lee, the program has helped youth at different grade levels stay on track with their schoolwork.

“Near the end of last semester, I recognized that several of our members at our Club were struggling with their homework and needed extra assistance, particularly in English and Math,” said Lee. “I spoke with several parents who were interested in the extra support for their child. After exploring options, we felt Sylvan was the right partner for us.”

Through the partnership, Sylvan and its instructors provided virtual tutoring after school two days a week. At the beginning, Sylvan set up a virtual parent meeting, establishing expectations and goals for the youth and matching the right instructors with each youth based on needs, personalities and skills.

“Our homework services provide more personal support enabling us to help youth understand their assignment and teach them the skills to master the content and concepts,” said Melissa Britner, Executive Director at Sylvan Learning Center. “It’s not just about them completing their homework assignments correctly; instead, it’s about them knowing how to do it with new skills and building the confidence and enthusiasm to continue to develop more skills.” 

The homework support Sylvan and its instructors provide varies by grade level. For instance, for second and third graders, the instructors are helping them with math concepts such as lesser or greater than numbers, two-digit addition and subtraction and in English reading stories, summarizing passages and prefixes and suffixes. For the high schoolers, the work in math has involved fractions, geometry and linear equations while in English helping students with poetry, reading assignments and more.

“The feedback we have received from both the youth and their guardians has been very positive,” added Lee. “A grandmother recently expressed her appreciation for this program, telling me how much it is helping her granddaughter who is in tenth grade develop her math and English competencies.”

In addition to Petersburg, our other Clubs have been hard at work providing additional academic support for youth. For example, MLK- Senior Program Director Jennifer Ponton has instituted “Saturday Academy,” where educational volunteers help 15-20 youth in grades 7th-11th every other Saturday from 10am to 1pm complete their school assignments and receive help in English and Math. And, at our Northside Club, BGCMR has engaged 20 John Marshall High School students that were danger of falling further behind in their classes. In partnership with and support from the school, our staff helps students twice a week when they are participating in virtual school. 

All of these programs and more have been designed to mitigate the academic regression of as many youth as possible.  Said McFarlane, “having kids progress through school without having the right skillsets and mastery in reading, writing and math exacerbates the challenges they will face trying to get into a college or a technical job after high school. With the right resources, we are able to change the odds for these youth to succeed in school.”