ACE News
An Eventful Autumn for ACE
December 6, 2012
In the life of an ACE tutor, fall may be the busiest season of all! The full-time tutors have spent their first months of service putting their training into practice by providing over 850 kindergarten, first-, and second-grade students with highly effective daily literacy tutoring. But the job of an ACE tutor is multifaceted and is certainly not confined to the classroom. All full-time ACE tutors are required to provide 1,700 hours of service to the community in 10 months. Most of these hours come from tutoring, but hours are also earned by supporting the community through other volunteer efforts. Throughout September, October, and November, tutors lent a hand at fall festivals, literacy nights, and beautification projects at most of the 22 elementary schools ACE are serving this school year.
From snack vendor to translator, face painter to gardener, tutors gladly took on a diverse array of roles and responsibilities at these events. For instance, many schools hosted beautification days where members used large stencils to adorn walkways and playgrounds with designs and games that promote healthy eating and exercise habits—as well as geography and math skills.
At these events it is easy to see the positive results of ACE’s support. At the Brooke Elementary Fall Festival in October, fourteen tutors worked with Brooke parents and staff to set up and decorate the gym and playground, serve refreshments, and run various game booths for the children. With quite a large turnout of students, parents, and community members, it was clear that the ACE tutors’ service helped make the festival a success.
By supporting school functions like these, ACE tutors expand their positive influence, building connections not only with their own students and schools, but also with children, families, and neighborhoods all over the Central Texas areas of Austin and Manor. Such meaningful community involvement truly seems to embody our goal of creating and nurturing ACE: A Community for Education.
Katie Davis
ACE Full-time Tutor