tutors ‘making a difference’

Susan Galligan was looking for a volunteer opportunity she could sink her teeth into.

She found it. And you could too.

“I love it,” she says of her work two hours a week as a tutor at the Star Learning Center. Running from Oct. 5 through May 12, the program at the Goddard Riverside Community Center is seeking volunteer tutors for the new school year.

“I feel as if I am really making a difference in a kid’s life,” she says. For three and a half years, she’s been helping out, almost always with the same student. She met him when he was in the second semester of third grade. “Now,” she says, “I like to say we are going into seventh grade.”

She and her pupil join others at the center, where Galligan, 65, says there are tutors of various ages, including college students. “That’s a fabulous example of the kids,” she says. Her own tutoring work has meant keeping up her own academic skills. When it comes to tutoring math, she says, “I was great up until the beginning of sixth grade.” She got up to speed again, and shares a passion for math with her student.

“We’re in sync on that,” she says.

The program serves low-income students from across the city. The focus at the center on West 84th Street is on one-to-one work on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3 to 7 p.m.; and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Tutoring applications are available at the Goddard Riverside web site at https://goddard.org/grcc/volunteer/starlearning/

“Tutoring can really help a child succeed in school – and that makes a big difference in their lives,” explains Deena Hellman, the tutoring program’s director. “We urgently need more tutors to serve all the children who’ve signed up.”

Galligan describes the center as a welcoming environment where she gets as much as she gives. There’s something compelling about following a child’s development, seeing improvements over time. Tutors get the support they need, she insists. And Galligan’s glad she’s learning about what it means to be a kid in today’s world.

“I know more about soccer and Star Trek and some of the young adult novels the kids are reading now than I ever thought I would,” she says.

After she retired from work as a lawyer, Galligan knew she wanted to contribute as a volunteer. She found her place in a supportive spot.

“They do really great work. They really care about kids,” she says. “I am a big fan.”