Jay Stoel, left, and Monica Lazar, volunteers for the Drop program, work with marbles, bubbles and flashcards inside the program room at the Refuge in Greenwood on Aug. 24. The Drop is an after-school tutoring and mentoring partnership between the Refuge and Northeast Elementary School.
RYAN TRARES | DAILY JOURNAL
Just a few hours each week can change the trajectory of a young person’s life.
For the past decade, kids have come to the Refuge in Greenwood to take part in the Drop program. Students from Northeast Elementary School sit with their volunteer mentors, working on homework and school projects for part of the time. Then, they transition to play — doing crafts, flying kites, having a paper airplane contests.
The program is designed to give struggling students some extra help with their schoolwork. At the same time, it’s an opportunity to have someone to talk to, to share with, and to be a friend.
“The idea was to have another adult in the lives of these kids that was not a parent and not a teacher — just somebody they could trust and grow with,” said Jay Stoel, a longtime volunteer with the Drop program.
The Drop program returns to the Refuge on Sept. 11, as volunteers are preparing for another year of the tutoring and mentoring partnership with Northeast Elementary. Program organizers, and those who give their time to make it go, have seen the impact it has had on past students.
“It’s nice to have somebody who’s not part of the school and not part of the ground to talk to. They’re this kind of middle ground,” said Jaime Oeffinger, a counselor at Northeast. “They’re going to be able to say things to kids that will be taken in a different way, and respond in a different way.”
Since 2013, the Drop program has served about 50 students. Those close to the program have the resources to do more, but are looking for additional volunteers to make it happen.
“I’ve seen the need for it. Even to just be an influence, even to change one student’s life, if worth it,” said Missy Jacobs, director of the Drop. “I love kids, and I’m passionate about learning and teaching them how to do things in life. This is an excellent program to do that. It can make lifelong impacts on kids and families.”
The Refuge was formed in 2007 in an effort to focus resources on helping people within the local community. Organizers found that while many churches wanted to address issues such as food insecurity and poverty, each individual congregation did not have the ability to develop and run its own food pantry.
But with area churches providing the resources they could, the Refuge would be a hub to address hunger in the county.
As the Refuge grew, it started offering additional programs to area families and individuals in need. The organization offered special Thanksgiving meals and gift opportunities for families at Christmas. Leaders have helped people navigate available resources to get the assistance they need.
And in recent years, they’ve offered the Drop.
The Refuge works with Northeast Elementary leadership, including Oeffinger, principal Amy Sander and teachers, to find students who need some extra help. They contact those students’ parents to gauge interest in the program, and if the parents agree, the students start coming to the Refuge every Monday and Wednesday.
A bus picks them up and brings them to the Refuge, where they get a snack and some free time before diving into their work.
“We’re doing something a little bit different this year. We’ll be working on life skills, things that some of the kids may be missing from learning at home. Then we have 30 minutes one-on-one with mentor-student time working on whatever the specific things the teachers want them to work on,” Jacobs said.
Each student has a designed tub with materials to work on. They’ll meet with their mentors in quiet study spaces, before rejoining with the group for play time.
That could mean a round of checkers, making art with colored pencils or markers or running around on the Refuge’s new playground.
One year, they had kites available for the kids to fly. None of the students involved at the time had ever flown a kite.
“We’re looking at ways that we can incorporate things that some of these kids have never experienced or had,” said Monica Lazar, a longtime volunteer with the program.
Lazar joined the Drop after her youngest child went to college, and she was looking for opportunities to serve. She had been involved with the Refuge through its food pantry, and when she learned about the mentoring program, she signed up.
“I’ve always enjoyed working with kids, so it fit into what I was looking for,” she said.
Stoel had been tutoring with different groups for years, mostly with Wayne Township schools and Indianapolis Oasis. After he retired, he found himself with increased free time.
“One of the other tutors asked, ‘So what are you going to do with a couple extra hours each week?’” he said. “So I started coming here.”
The reason they’ve stuck with it is because of the joy of interacting with young people.
Jacobs is constantly on the lookout for more volunteers to help them grow the program. Ideal candidates need to have patience and an interest in helping kids in a variety of ways.
In doing so, community members can change the course of a child’s life.
“We’re all recruited with the idea that we’re bringing a relationship into these kids’ lives. They were struggling in school, but usually, that was more than an academic issue — it was trouble at home, or they just need somebody,” Stoel said.
AT A GLANCE
The Drop
What: A Greenwood after-school tutoring and mentoring program in which each student is paired with the same trained adult for a minimum of one semester, and where possible they will remain with the same adult the entire school year.
Who: The Refuge and Northeast Elementary School
When: 3:45-5:30 p.m. Mondays and 3:30-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays
How to help: The Refuge is looking for volunteer mentors who love to give their time in support of the youth in our community. The more mentors they have the more students they can serve.
Additionally, monetary donations to the Refuge can be designated specifically for The Drop to cover expenses for resources and materials needed.
To learn more about becoming a mentor or to make a donation contact Kerry Carmichael at [email protected] or Missy Jacobs at [email protected] or 317-889-7338.
