Fox Hill Tutoring center
From Wagnerpedia
FOX HILL TUTORING CENTER
located on Vanderbilt ave in the Park Hill area of Staten Island is the Fox Hills tutoring center, founded by Rufus Z. Arkoi. Mr. Arkoi developed after-school programs for refugee children and youth on Staten Island. The goals were to keep the youth off the streets, teach them good citizenship, and to help them succeed academically and socially. Mr. Arkoi modeled this program on a successful youth soccer program he developed in Liberia in 1981.
The Tutoring Center is a place for children to receive homework help and computer access. During the Spring 2008 semester, Erica Vasaturo, Rodney Davis, and James Morro went to the tutoring center every week to help out with providing homework help to the students. Their first experience in the tutoring center could be summed up in one word, chaotic,there were about 15 children to one adult! they developed an idea to create a project for the children to do, one that would help them better their reading, writing, speech, and creative abilities.
They came up with a family history project, one part of the project is that they would interview a family member to learn more about their own history as well as to learn to communicate with their family members better. Also to keep the project a bit more creative we used poetry and writing projects to utilize their creativity.
The ultimate goal of the project is to put a book together featuring the work of the children. Something they can show to their families and be proud of, giving them motivation to excel in school.
Rufus Z. Arkoi
Parental Involvement
By doing a family history project the children are using their reading, writing, and speaking skills, but they are also bonding with their family members. The family's perceptions of their role and responsibility in their children's education is the most important factor predicting parental involvement.Parents who believe they can make a difference in their children's education are more likely to visit and participate in school activities than those who feel ineffective.
It is important for these children to have positive feed back about their achievements from their parents/guardian, in order to keep them motivated to do well. Parent outreach must also become a priority for the school.
