From left, Franklin Community Middle School eighth graders Aubrey Smith, Parker Kantz and Isaac Thompson study in the school’s library. The three students are partnered with adult mentors as part of the Study Connection program.
ANDY BELL-BALTACI | DAILY JOURNAL
A program that pairs students at Franklin Community School Corporation with adult tutors and mentors is in need of more volunteers ahead of the program’s start next month.
The Franklin Education Connection’s Study Connection program, which started in the school district in 2005, typically has about 100 volunteers, each of whom is paired with a student either at the elementary, intermediate or middle school level. One hour a week, the study buddy adult will meet with the student they’re assigned to. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, halted the program’s operations in March 2020 and it didn’t return until the 2021-22 school year. Even then the program went forward with 35 fewer volunteers than normal, said Melissa Parramore, Study Connection’s director.
“It was a rough year for everybody because all the schools were putting pieces back together because of the pandemic,” Parramore said. “Last year we got back in, and this year we’re trying to get back to where we were before the pandemic.”
With the demand still at the same level last as it was before the pandemic, last year teachers had to step in and tutor during their breaks, and tutored more than one student at a time. In order to boost the number of volunteers, the Franklin Education Connection revisited its partnership with Otterbein SeniorLife, allowing residents to volunteer to help students. People involved with Study Connection also hope to revitalize off-campus partnerships with the Franklin Police Department and NSK, both of which stalled during the pandemic.
“We’ve had student-teachers coming in from Franklin College to volunteer as study buddies. The person just needs to be a caring adult willing to help students with academics and mentor that student with life,” Parramore said. “It’s a very rewarding program and most volunteers return year after year and do this for a long time because they love it. The relationship piece is the most important part, even though academic assistance is vital. But in order for the students to trust someone to help them with those things, they have to build a relationship with them first.”
Franklin Community Middle School eighth graders Aubrey Smith and Isaac Thompson have both been in the Study Connection program since elementary school, while eighth-grader Parker Kantz joined it last year. All three students are still paired with the same study buddy they had when they started.
Although the students have improved in academics since they joined the program, they remember the life lessons the most.
“She’s always been there for me, and I think she always will,” Smith said of her study buddy. “In fourth grade, I had a lot of mental health issues with anxiety and depression because of stuff going on in my life. She told me to let everything out, not in an angry way, but to write notes of what’s been going on, to tell your friends, tell a trusted adult. Holding onto it is not healthy and it will cause a lot of anger in the future.”
Thompson said his study buddy helped him overcome issues he was having in his social life.
“I couldn’t make proper friends and he just said, ‘it’ll be alright, next year is a new year, and everyone will forget,’” Thompson said. “You get to create bonds with them, (they help) if you want good grades and they can also give you some advice.”
Kantz overcame communication issues she was having with a family member with advice from her study buddy, she said.
“The value of this program is to help you get your grades up and it’s also to help get anxiety out and stuff that’s happened to you in the past so it doesn’t affect you in the future,” Kantz said. “I recommend this program to a lot of people. It definitely boosts your grades a lot. You get really close to them over the entire year and then you’re like ‘wow, I’m a whole different person now.’”
IF YOU GO
To volunteer with Study Connection, email director Melissa Parramore at [email protected] or call her at 317-524-8544. Volunteers must be available one hour each Thursday afternoon, excluding school breaks, starting in mid-September.
A training session for volunteers will take place 3 p.m. Sept. 8 in the large group instruction room at Northwood Elementary School.
