Former middle school teacher Nancy Strain may be retired, but she’s committed to seeing some of her students through — all the way to high school graduation.
Strain retired from teaching sixth grade at Gateway Middle School in June, but now is tutoring three students who could benefit from the help. She plans to follow them through high school.
“It’s an extra adult in their lives,” Strain said. “Some kids need more attention — a strong adult that cares about them and how they do in school.”
Strain has shown that commitment with other students in the past. She kept in touch with a boy she’d taught as a seventh grader until he graduated from high school this June. To celebrate the graduation, she and a few other teachers took him out to teriyaki.
“We were so glad he made it through,” she said. “When he started at my school, he had a difficult home situation.”
So now, in addition to gardening, doing house projects, visiting her mom and volunteering at church, Strain meets once a week with two girls and a boy she taught last year. She asked that their names not be used.
The group meets at Gateway. Strain brings snacks, sometimes Pringles or salt water taffy or pop.
They read together and practice summarizing and inference, or each child works on their homework, with Strain helping as needed.
Like many students, they’ll sometimes say they have no homework.
“I’ll say, ‘What about math?’” Strain said.
An important part of every meeting is just chatting, Strain said.
“I am working with them academically, but it’s almost like a big sister type thing,” she said.
For example, this past weekend she took the students to a corn maze. Last year, she took one of the girls to lunch on Christmas, to the air in August and in December to a farm supply store to view the animals.
“She mentioned she’d never seen baby chicks,” Strain said.
Strain also bought the students some school supplies this fall, including a binder and book cover.
“And a hand pencil sharpener, because the ones at school never work,” she said.
She wishes more adults would volunteer to meet with students in the same way. Gateway, for example, has a mentor program, but it’s not very developed, she said.
“Parents nowadays are just busy,” she said. “Kids just need someone to talk to.”
Consistency is important, she said. Even if the children move, she wants to stay in touch.
“I’d like to see it through,” she said. “To see them be more successful and self assured and everything.”
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