Members of the Illinois Retired Teachers Association, a statewide association of retired educators, their families and supporters, are volunteering to help students finish the school year at home.
“We want to help students learn,” IRTA president John Flaherty, a former high school and special education teacher, wrote in a news release. “Our members are ready to help students build their learning skills and tutor in highly advanced subject areas like chemistry and mathematics.
“For elementary students, self-paced and self-directed learning is a foreign concept. A teacher-mentor will help students take their own initiative and focus their learning at their own pace.”
Parents who want to match their student with a retired teacher may sign up at www.irtaonline.org. Mentors are on a first-come, first-served basis, and mentorships will last from now until June 1.
“A retired Illinois public school teacher’s depth of knowledge is so great, it may be just what parents need to energize their children into at-home students,” IRTA executive director Jim Bachman said. “Retiree-mentors can specifically target aspects of learning that need the most attention, whether it’s mathematics, science, history, writing, or reading.”
“If we retirees can find a way to help, we will,” Flaherty wrote in the release.
—Al Benson