VOICES: Closing the learning gap through tutoring

Michel'le Curington (CONTRIBUTED: Shon Curtis)

Michel'le Curington (CONTRIBUTED: Shon Curtis)

According to a research report provided by Learn to Earn Dayton for the 2021-22 school year, Dayton had only 29% of children demonstrate readiness for kindergarten, 19% could read proficiently in the 3rd grade and only 15% of 8th graders were proficient in math. These numbers present a clear problem: Our children have fallen behind.

This is personal for me. From middle school until college, I spent many hours visiting teachers during their office hours and visiting the campus’s math and writing tutoring centers to get the extra help I needed. I started my career in education at Sinclair Community College. After completing two years, I then transferred to Wright State University where I received my bachelor’s and master’s degree in education.

I started tutoring at a local library while I was in graduate school. Tutoring had a huge impact on my success in grade school and in college, so it only made sense to be a helping hand for others, especially children. If I could prepare them in their earlier years with mastering key foundational skills, they would be less likely to struggle academically in high school or in life after school.

I started my business Fail Me Not Tutoring because I wanted to make a difference in many children’s lives, as my teachers and tutors did in mine. I was a student that struggled in school and even college because of the lack of those foundational skills I had in grade school. I felt like I was always behind my peers academically.

I can remember being in class and afraid to ask questions. I remember that feeling like it was yesterday and I never want any child to feel what I felt. Today, that same feeling inspires my own tutoring business.

I created this company three years ago to restore the confidence in our children while helping them build their reading, math and writing skills to prepare them for their future. I love the smiles on students’ faces and the joy they feel when they have learned something new. For me, it is the greatest joy.

Fail Me Not Tutoring is a tutoring company that serves students in grades K-8th to build their math, reading and writing skills. Through these programs, we are helping close the learning gap within the Dayton community. You can learn more about Fail Me Not Tutoring on fmntutoring.com.

You can make a difference in a child’s life, too. Volunteer to tutor at the Brunner Literacy Center at brunnerliteracy.org or as a Homework Helper for the Dayton Metro Library at daytonmetrolibrary.org.

Michel’le Curington is the owner of Fail Me Not Tutoring, a tutoring program that services students in grades K-8th in math, reading, and writing in the Dayton area.

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