City Gospel Mission
1805 Dalton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45214
Whiz Kids Tutoring and Mentoring
Grant Application:
Whiz Kids is a literacy-based, one-to-one tutoring and mentoring program for at-risk students from low-income families. Whiz Kids reaches 700 youth ages 6-14 at 35 tutoring sites throughout Greater Cincinnati. The program partners with 26 public school districts, reaching at-risk youth from Over- the-Rhine and Madisonville to West Chester and Milford to Florence, Ky., and Middletown. The same tutor is paired with the same child year round.
Goals include: Whiz Kids will serve 700 students during the 2022-23 school year. Students will increase reading proficiency by an average of ¾ of a grade level or more each year until they reach their proper grade level. For example, a child in 2nd grade may begin the program reading at a kindergarten level. His reading will improve at least ¾ of a grade level each year he participates until he reaches his appropriate grade level. This is a significant improvement for the population that Whiz Kids serves, 35% of whom are developmentally, mentally, or physically disabled.
Grant Evaluation Report:
Whiz Kids successfully supported students and their families during the difficult and stressful pandemic years. While the total number of children served in 2022-23 was about half of a typical pre-pandemic year, the 350 children who participated received quality tutoring and built valuable relationships with their mentors. The program success-fully operated and made a huge impact in children’s lives, just on a smaller scale than we are used to.
Throughout 2022-23, Whiz Kids staff stayed in conversation with former partner schools. We have also built new relationships with school principals and teachers at schools that have never partnered with us before. Many more are planning to partner with Whiz Kids in 2023-24. We have also been building new volunteer partnerships and recruiting for next year. Many of our former volunteers were retired older men and women who have concerns about tutoring in-person. We understand and respect their concerns during the pandemic and are now beginning to see a change back to being comfortable with in-person volunteering. We are planning and ever hopeful to return to 35 sites and 700 children served next year.
Website:
http://www.citygospelmission.org Amount: $30,000
Date: June 2022
