Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Read the story by Presbyterian News Service.
The Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of its tutoring program. The Bryn Mawr congregation has a deep commitment to mission and outreach that goes back to the late 1800s. In 1965, ruling elder Margaret Bailey Speer (d.1997) approached the session with the idea to start a tutoring program. With the session’s approval, Margaret reached out to the public elementary schools in North Philadelphia.
Margaret Speer already had a substantial career in education by the time she began to recruit for the tutoring program at Bryn Mawr Church. She had served on the staff of the Western Languages Department and then as the Dean of Yenching University, in Beijing. In 1941, at the beginning of World War II, she was sent to an internment camp, where she set up educational activities for children and adults. Upon returning to the US in 1943, she became the headmistress of a private school. Throughout her career and beyond, Speer focused her efforts on human rights and improving access to education. She was instrumental in opening the school to African American students, and she regularly spoke to her students about service.
Cackie Rogers, now the director of the Wednesday Tutoring Program at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, was one of the many students inspired by Margaret Speer. Cackie recalls, “In 1967, I heard the message of Margaret Bailey Speer. The program had already been established by then, and I volunteered to be a tutor in 1972. In 2009 my daughter became a tutor. Today my son is a group leader for the program. It’s become a part of our family and part of the fabric of the Bryn Mawr congregation.”
Today, the program pairs 90 high school students from ten different high schools with 90 elementary students from the William Dick Elementary School in North Philadelphia for tutoring sessions two nights a week. The tutors are both members of the congregation and people from the larger community. A family resource person at the elementary school identifies children or parents who are interested. Leaders in the program, including the Rev. Nicole Duran, attend “back to school” night to introduce themselves to the parents and introduce the tutoring program. As the parents’ trust in the program has increased, it has grown.
“It’s a very popular, proven program. Year after year, the high school students who tutor pass along the word that it’s a great way to do community service. Meanwhile, the parents of the elementary students realize the positive benefits for their children. On both sides of the table it is passed down to siblings,” added Cackie Rogers.
The program also includes enrichment activities in the arts and music, yoga and food. However, the hallmark of the program remains the same: to improve the love of reading and reading comprehension.
The program originally started with tutors going to the elementary school itself, but the church now pays for a bus to transport students to the church, where a meal is provided by the congregation’s Hunger Committee and volunteers.
Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church continues to be a place that brings people together in the interest of mutual understanding, seeking to draw people outside of ourselves and into the Word of God.
Read the story by Presbyterian News Service.
All pictures courtesy of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church.
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