Big Fish Club: Tutoring
The Mission: Possible! Austin Big Fish program has provided consistent volunteers tutoring children at the Elm Ridge Apartments for the past two years. Having the opportunity to holistically care and love on these young people has strengthened and deepened the relationships that began at Big Fish Club. Through tutoring, we are able to empower them beyond Big Fish Club to include their education and bright futures.
One of our Community Captains for Big Fish Club is Kathleen Corder, who has been tutoring at Elm Ridge since the beginning. Kathleen says,
“I love getting the chance to talk with our Big Fish kids outside of normal club time. Thursdays (BFC) can be beautiful chaos, but in tutoring we have a smaller group and some of the kids are definitely more in their comfort zone when things are calm and comfortable. These kids desperately need and desire individual attention; tutoring time is one of the sweetest chances to encourage them and celebrate their individual strengths. I would highly recommend tutoring because these kids will change your outlook on life and redefine how you think about loving people. It’s much more than just help with homework; it is mentorship, teaching, encouragement, and showing these kids that they matter and are capable of things much greater than they can imagine right now. As far as kids changing, I see them trusting us more and more as we spend time there each week. I love watching them light up as we celebrate learning victories, and I love seeing how God’s been perfectly crafting these relationships over the years. I think it’s mainly changed me in the way I go about teaching. Sometimes it’s not about getting homework done as fast as possible, but instead showing them love in the moment and taking the time to walk through the simple steps with the kids so they’ll fully understand and learn.”
