for minority students

Bel Pre Elementary School in Layhill is partnering with the Montgomery County affiliate of the Black Child Development Institute to mentor and tutor African-American students in reading.

With the program slated to begin this month, Maria Beckles Jenkins, president of the institute, and Bel Pre Principal Margaret Yates hosted a kickoff event last week at the school.

"This program will help minority children to get over the hump of being left out," Jenkins said. "Especially in reading."

The tutoring and mentoring is the first step in closing the achievement gap in test scores between African-American students and their peers, she said.

"There is always a lack," she said. "A gap in learning and test scores with black students. And there is nothing better we can do then to have a child read."

The seven tutors Jenkins asked to take part in the program are largely retired or have free time during the day.

"I needed people who would be committed," said Jenkins, who, along with her husband, Melvin Jenkins, is one of the tutors. "The child looks for you on that day [of the tutoring]. They have to know you are going to be there."

The tutors, all members of the Black Child Development Institute, have received one training session and will attend more before they are partnered with Bel Pre students.

"The tutorial training program is set up under the eyes of the school's reading specialist," Jenkins said. "We don't want to undo anything that the students are learning in school."

"I attended the training session," said Bel Pre reading teacher Beverly Belin. "I saw that the mentors were very enthusiastic. If their enthusiasm is any indication, I think this program is going to be a big success."

The tutors will not only help students with reading, but also serve as mentors, Belin said.

Though a teacher at Bel Pre for more than 20 years, this is Belin's first year as a reading teacher.

"They will be mentors both academically and emotionally," Belin said. "It is really important to get the kids hooked [on reading] now.

At this age, this is when they build a sense of trust and self-esteem, she said.

"Thankfully there are no serious learning problems here," Belin said. "Kids that benefit from this program are the ones that may need a little extra attention. They might need that one-on-one support."

Once trained and partnered with a student, the tutors will visit the school for an hour once a week to help the children with reading and other educational needs, Yates said.

Bel Pre is no stranger to providing its students with tutors and mentors.

Yates, the school's principal for 10 years, has welcomed John F. Kennedy High School students involved in the Leadership Training Institute as mentors.

The initial mentoring program linking Kennedy and Bel Pre students started in 1993 with the older students participating to earn community service hours, as well as strengthen community ties.

"It started as an agent-of-change program," said Sara Rosen, Kennedy senior and mentor to Bel Pre students since her freshman year. "But it was the kids who ended up changing us."

Although the students have not been selected and paired with a BCDI tutor yet, Yates said teachers are looking among their students to find those who would best benefit from the sessions.

The Montgomery County affiliate of BCDI, based in Silver Spring, was founded in 1991 and is one of 32 affiliates, Jenkins said. The 30-year-old area organization is dedicated to ensure the welfare of children, with particular emphasis on minority children.

The Montgomery affiliate decided to adopt Bel Pre after Yates, also a member of the BCDI, brought her proposed mentoring and tutoring program to the affiliate's board.

"I thought Bel Pre would serve our purpose very well," Jenkins said. "It has a multicultural population."