A Thank You Note...

Beverly Easterling, the Kennedy Middle School teacher sponsor for our after-school tutoring program, asked me to share the following thank you note addressed to all of the Trinity tutors...

Dear Trinity Tutors,

This long overdue note will hopefully convey to you how grateful I am for the time and energy you put into the Kennedy Middle School students this past year. The weekly tutoring programs’ impact will last much longer than you think and I hope that you’ll continue to invest in the lives of KMS students next year!

The opportunity you created for practice and remediation proved to be a HUGE success! At 5pm each week the kids left with a better basic skills foundation that translated directly to their classroom performance and made learning on a daily basis more accessible. Most of the kids you tutored passed the math and reading sections of the CRCT and that is no small feat!!! It’s an amazing testament to the work you guys did that the cycle of historically failing standardized tests was broken for a good majority of students. Completing high school will not be an option without these skills and each of you helped to make their path to success much more possible.

I could go on and on about the impact you guys had on their academic achievement but that is only one part of the gift you freely gave them each time you visited. The kiddos that regularly attended the tutoring sessions are more emotionally and socially healthy because of you. It is rare that they get one-on-one attention and I’d bet that most of them don’t have an adult in their life that invests and dialogues with them. You became more than a tutor---you were a mentor and a friend! You’ve tackled fickle middle school personalities and my frazzled antics with ease---and for that you should feel super proud!

Most importantly, you showed us Jesus. Even if you came each week and they didn’t learn a lick of anything, it would have been worth it! Your patience with their attitudes or their cognitive delays was such an encouragement to me and an act of love towards them. They felt more safe and cared about during that one hour than the previous seven of that day. This year has been the hardest in my life and each week your coming was a reminder of how the Lord is faithful and full of mercy. There is nothing KMS did to deserve y’alls love and what a tangible example of the grace He extends to us it was to me! Thank you for being a part of bringing His kingdom here on earth.

Many, many thanks,

Beverly Easterling