After School Tutoring

Earlier today the Centenary Baseball Team visited Meadowview Elementary School in Bossier to help tutor students. Meadowview Elementary is a neighborhood school (meaning children can walk to school). When we arrived at the school, we met with the principle and she gave us a little background on the students. Most of the children resided from lower-socioeconomic households. After completing the 4th grade students must pass the "leep" test in order to advance. Students who don't pass are required to take summer school and/or repeat the 4th grade. The students we tutored were part of an after-school tutoring program. The principle assigned 2 Centenary players with each classroom. My classroom consisted of about 8 students. For the next two hours we helped the students complete their basic math worksheets. This was a great experience and the kids loved having us their. I spoke with the principle before we left, asking her a couple questions about juvenile behavior among the students. The first thing she told me was that most of these children walk to school, and the neighborhoods they live in are of lower class. Without me even mentioning my research project, the topic was being discussed. I'm assuming that she meant, since the students live in lower class neighborhoods and walk to school, they are more likely to be involved with criminal behavior. She explained to me how it was her (i assume the school's) job to find after school activities and programs for her students. I have arranged a meeting with her later in the school year to learn more about these programs and pick her brain.