by Heather MacDonald
Volunteer and Community Engagement Director
Each quarter at Kearns Junior High School, students who have good grades and attendance are able to attend a special field trip to celebrate their success. Students who are missing assignments, or who haven’t met the attendance requirements, must stay back at the school to work on getting caught up. This quarter, volunteers from TD Ameritrade helped with math homework, writing assignments, and even played basketball with students during their PE classes.
“It was great for a lot of our volunteers who helped students with a much needed push to get their work done. I spent the majority of my time in the gym playing basketball and getting schooled by 7th, 8th and 9th graders. It was a humbling experience!” – Alex Fox
Kearns Jr. High serves about 800 students, and 53 percent of those students are minorities. More than 40 percent of students are below grade level in math, and only 77 percent are at grade level for language arts. Twenty percent of all students experience chronic or severely chronic absence from school.
By sharing their time and talents, TD Ameritrade was able to help many students get back on track. Many of the teachers expressed their thanks for having so many extra helping hands to support individual students, who needed the encouragement to complete their assignments. Principal Barber even noted that the teachers had never seen so many assignments be handed in on one single make up day!
Thank you to all the TD Ameritrade volunteers who came out and showed Kearns Junior what it means to LIVE UNITED! We appreciate all their help and support and look forward to connecting them to other great opportunities to volunteer.
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If you or your company would like to volunteer to support academic achievement please contact Heather MacDonald, Volunteer Engagement Director at heather@uw.org. One time tutoring sessions for makeup days are available, as well as ongoing mentoring/tutoring on a weekly basis. No prior experience working with youth or tutoring is required. Volunteers with a supportive attitude, ability to listen, and willingness to provide a positive example are needed to become one of our 700 Read. Graduate. Succeed. volunteers. Learn more and sign up at uw.org/read.
