It’s interesting how the world works. After posting last week’s story about my frustrations with Ayodele*, I received a Literacy Advance newsletter announcing a new Time and Attendance Policy. How timely is that!
When I arrived at Literacy Advance this morning, I had time to discuss the new policy with a staff member, K*, before meeting with Ayodele. K explained the new policy and gave me a copy.
Ayodele arrived and, as always, I asked to see her homework. She didn’t do it…again. I told her before we started our lesson this morning, we needed to go over a new Time and Attendance Policy. The pertinent issue for her is attendance. The new policy indicates if there are five absences, excused or not, the student may be asked to leave. I showed Ayodele our attendance list and it already had three absences for this session, and that didn’t even count those that weren’t documented.
I told her I was concerned that when she left for Africa (which will be as soon as she gets her travel documents), she’d miss more classes and be asked to leave. She is planning to be gone for two months and thought she could simply let the staff know and we would put our sessions on hold. She doesn’t want to be asked to leave. I suggested we discuss this with a staff member.
I asked K to join us and explained Ayodele’s concerns. Our talk resulted in the following: When Ayodele leaves for her two-month trip to Africa, she will leave the program. When she returns, she will call Literacy Advance and be put on the waiting list; at the top of the list because she’s an ongoing student. She will be matched with a new tutor.
I will be taking a break when Ayodele leaves for Africa and will be deciding what I want to do. I’m not sure if I want to continue tutoring right away or search for a new volunteer activity. I have learned a great deal through my volunteer work with Literacy Advance and don’t want to give it up. However, I do want to spread my wings and see what else is out there for me.
* Names changed to protect the student’s and staff member’s identity.
