GAMBIER — Kenyon College students who started classes last week are busy with more than just their own studies these days. Many are also helping to make schools better for local K-12 students.
Members of the Kenyon community are giving back to younger students in Knox County through volunteering their time at local elementary schools, mentoring gifted students, or helping high schoolers with the college application process.
Between 150 and 200 students typically volunteer each semester at Wiggin Street Elementary in Gambier. They assist teachers by preparing instructional materials, organizing classroom resources, and providing one-on-one tutoring and small-group support.
“This additional support allows the student-to-adult ratio to decrease significantly, creating opportunities for more personalized attention, improved academic outcomes, and stronger student engagement,” said Wiggin Street Principal Christy Grandstaff.
Sophomore Amelia Russell enjoyed serving as a math tutor for first-graders last year.
“It was a really great experience,” said Russell, a biochemistry major from Cleveland. “I have always enjoyed working with children, especially in areas of my interest.”
Russell hopes to expand her involvement this year by introducing the national Girls on the Run program to the school. The program combines life skills learning with physical activity.
The newest effort to help local students will kick off this fall and focuses on high schoolers.
Navigating the college prep process
Known as BEACON (Building Educational and College Opportunities Near Gambier), it is a college preparation and advising program for first-generation students from Mount Vernon High School.
Kenyon students initiated the program in collaboration with the College’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It aims to help high school seniors navigate the college application process through tutorials and one-on-one mentorship.
Kenyon sophomore Laney Tullius — a first-generation college student from Barlow, in rural Appalachia — founded the group as an opportunity for her peers to help first-generation students from local high schools access higher education.
“Most people in my community didn’t go to college, so there weren’t a lot of people to reach out to. … Going through the application process was incredibly hard,” she said. “When I got here at Kenyon, I felt like the education was amazing. I feel like it’s changed the trajectory of my life already, and I want other people to have that.”
Kenyon students help out at other local schools through collaborations that the College’s Office for Community Partnerships has established.
Two Mount Vernon elementary schools — East and Dan Emmett — brought students to Kenyon’s campus in the spring for special, college student-led programming. Programming included square dancing, a meet-and-greet with international students, and a soccer clinic.
Wiggin Street aims to take part this year as well, according to Julie Brodie, director of the Office for Community Partnerships.
“It’s a pretty cool opportunity for the kids to come on campus and engage with Kenyon students and in different kinds of activities,” she said.
Giving back
At Pleasant Street Elementary School in Mount Vernon, Kenyon students lead activities as part of an after-school program. Kendin Basden, a senior from Bermuda, organized three soccer clinics in the spring at the school — first by himself and then with a few fellow athletes.
A member of the men’s soccer team who plans on working professionally as a coach, Basden said he will resume the sessions on a more frequent basis this academic year because he feels it’s important to give back to the next generation.
“One thing I learned when I fell in love with soccer is that it gave me a lot of things to look forward to,” he said. “Just to have people involved and on their feet and with a smile, I feel like that’s a pretty powerful thing to offer them.”
A student worker for the Office for Community Partnerships, Basden also helped deliver donated school supplies to local students last month as part of a collection coordinated by the office with Liz Keeney.
Keeney, a Gambier resident and retired associate director of student accessibility and support services at Kenyon, has led the effort for years.
In all, Kenyon faculty, staff, and community members donated thousands of dollars’ worth of supplies. This included hundreds of pencils, markers, and notebooks, as well as 150 scientific calculators and over 2,000 sheets of construction paper.
Carloads of supplies were delivered to Wiggin Street, Mount Vernon Middle School, Knox County Career Center, Knox County Head Start, and New Directions.
New Directions also received 22 backpacks full of games, crafts, and supplies.
Mentoring on passion projects
Other efforts at helping K-12 students in Knox County focus on student mentoring. Julian Lane, a Kenyon senior from New York City, is the student liaison for the Knox County Genius Hour Symposium, previously known as Bright Minds.
He’s loved volunteering for four semesters with the initiative that provides mentoring to gifted elementary and middle school students in Mount Vernon, Fredericktown, Centerburg, Howard, and Danville as they research passion projects.
“It really is one-on-one,” Lane said. “You get to go into the mind of a bright, curious fourth grader or seventh grader, and it’s just a nice place to be.”