Several months ago, JCRC Executive Director Jeremy Burton made his first site visit to a GBJCL partner school, the Beethoven-Ohrenberger. Jeremy met the principals of the school, several GBJCL tutors from Temple Emanuel, and their students. I met with Jeremy recently to ask him about this experience.
Question: Why did you visit the school?
Answer: When I talk to JCRC leaders who participate in GBJCL, I hear passion in their voice as they share about tutoring, and I was eager to understand it. There’s a difference between hearing a story and experiencing it through the eyes of those who love it, and I visited the school to bridge that gap.
Question: What surprised you?
Answer: The tutors I saw don’t just care about the kids, they care about the school. It’s not often that people have such a strong attachment to a community beyond their own geographic one, to a place which they have no obvious connection. They come to the school for special events and assemblies, and support teachers in ways beyond their specific tutoring assignment. They care for the students, teachers, and families, and are invested in the community. I might expect that relationship with one’s own children’s school, or maybe one’s friends’ kids’ school, but a school in a different town which can feel so removed from one’s own? That’s amazing. What I learned is that through GBJCL, volunteers come to feel at home at home in these schools and deeply tied to their students. They understand that we are all members of the community of Greater Boston, with a shared commitment to the success of all of our children!
To read about the highlight of the visit, and about goals for GBJCL in the future, read the full article on our blog.
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