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CSUB tutors foster sense of learning

The road to educational success for foster youth living in group homes is bumpy at best.

The kids can go through numerous placement changes. There can be challenges between schools and welfare agencies. And there’s also the lack of a sole person accountable for their education.

All obstacles foster kids face in assuring a quality education.

But a new tutoring program — a coordination between the Kern County Network for Children and the CSUB Department of Education — is helping to bring more stability to the education of local boys in group homes, and also lend experience to Cal State Bakersfield students who will become teachers.

Each Monday through Thursday, from 4 to 6 p.m., 12 junior high and high school aged boys from various Kern County group homes are transported to CSUB, where seven tutors help the boys with reading, math, science and writing.

“The kids feel like CSUB students. They have CSUB binders, they use the library, they even use the snack machines,” said Kristina LaGue, assistant professor in the department of education at CSUB.

LaGue helped organize the program and is responsible for the tutors, which are all CSUB students in various stages of their education.

She also oversees the tutoring sessions at CSUB. The tutors are paid by the hour, and can receive an $1,800 scholarship if they complete three consecutive quarters as a tutor.

The idea for these tutoring sessions arose out of a prior program, where credentialed teachers visited the group homes — usually for an hour a day — and helped the kids with their school work.

Though this was effective, it became difficult to pay the teachers, according to Carrie Bloxom, supervising case manager for Foster Youth Services.

“We took advice from group homes on what we should do. We contacted LaGue at CSUB and she came up with the idea. She organized what she felt might work,” said Bloxom.

LaGue insisted that bringing the boys to CSUB would beneficial for both parties.
The tutoring sessions are held in study rooms in the Walter Stiern Library. The tutors and the boys have access to laptops, Wi-Fi and can use the library for research.

“One of our goals is to show these kids that college is something attainable. We want to motivate them to do good in school,” said LaGue.

The tutoring sessions are based on what needs a child might have academically and what excites and motivates them.

While some of the kids receive help in literacy and their regular school studies, tutors primarily adapt their lesson plans to those certain “favorites.” They feel this necessary because, after a full day at school, getting the students to focus can be challenging.

Though some of the tutors are already working on their teaching credential, others have had little teaching experience.

Maribel Pelaya, a junior and liberal arts major at CSUB, is one of the tutors.
She initially had aspirations to work with elementary students, but she is now getting her first taste as an educator working with this age group through the foster kids.

“At first, I wanted to focus on teaching smaller kids. The thought of working with a 15–year–old scared me at first, but I learned how to deal with that,” said Pelaya.

 Pelaya has learned to use different methods to combat the issue of focusing, like letting students work on a laptop or write on the chalkboard. She has also learned that building a trusting relationship with the students is important.

“The first two weeks were the hardest, but after that, the kids opened up to us and now its a joy every time to see them,” said Pelaya.

The experience the tutors receive working in this program will help them apply what they have learned in their coursework, as well as give them practice in creating lesson plans, motivating students and building bonds with students.

The students also receive help and guidance from LaGue, who sets up bi-monthly meetings to discuss any issues or concerns.

The tutoring sessions at CSUB also provide a chance for the boys to get away from the group home.

Jennifer Mason, a social worker for the Independent Living Program, a program that assists foster youth in achieving self-sufficiency prior to exiting the foster care system, says life in a group home can be hectic.

“Because of the composition of boys in a group home, it can be maddening. They want to get out as much as possible,” said Mason.

Boys are placed in group homes based on their past behavioral issues, according to Mason, who added that there is no specific scale or assessment in determining this.

For many of the kids, the tutoring sessions provide stability in an otherwise unstable environment of living in group homes.

Boys can be moved to different group homes with only as little as one week’s notice, sometimes ending up in the Jamison Children’s Center.

None of the boys in the CSUB tutoring sessions have had to move to different group homes since this program began.

“There has to be a steady connection with these boys. If they had people to consistently care for them, then it would cut back on some of the problems these boys face,” said Mason.

Currently, LaGue is looking for ways to expand the program, which has approved funding through next year.

The only real challenge facing the tutoring program is the unreliability of transportation. Because it is up to the group homes to transport the boys to CSUB, there have been times when a driver wasn’t available. 

“We would like to grow and expand, but it’s hard if we can’t get the kids here. We want more kids involved,” said LaGue.