Adie, a fulltime elder care aide, looks forward to the weekly trip; almost as much as her children do.
“At home there are many distractions,” she said. “But here they focus and get things done,” Adie continued.
Getting things done was exactly what SOWMA tutor Carol Augustyniak Marcus and Adie’s eldest daughter Dophiadie set out to do during Dophiadie’s junior year in high school.
Carol and Dophiadie met weekly to review school assignments and navigate the college application process.
“I loved encouraging what she loved,” said Carol. “She’d light up when we talked about certain books and literature. It was exciting to watch her passion unfold,” Carol said.
Last fall that passion led Dophiadie to her freshman year at Howard University. Carol continued, “It was bittersweet but I knew she would blossom.” Prior to her departure, Dophiadie received a SOWMA scholarship, courtesy of the First Baptist Church of Brockton.
Dolph, Adie’s high school junior, is tackling complex algebraic equations with his SOWMA tutor of three years, John Hoagland.
“There’s no reason he can’t tease out the answers with the best of them,” assures Hoagland. That said, Dolph adjusts his posture and tends to the next problem with renewed determination.
With SOWMA’s guidance, Dolph recently applied for the Christian A. Herter Memorial Scholarship, a needs-based financial award established by the Massachusetts State Legislature for students like Dolph who show academic promise.
6th grader Elijah, who’s as enthusiastic to arrive at the Crescent Credit Union site this day as he was when he began 3 years ago, shines a smile at SOWMA tutor Tom D’Avanzo as he excitedly opens a folder to display his recent quiz score. The pride is mutual.
Adie laughs aloud as she recounts the stories and friendships she and her children have made through SOWMA. She tells of a recent snow storm that caused the cancellation of all area schools and thus, evening tutoring.
“Tess, my 3rd grader, was not too pleased about it,” said Adie as she smiled knowingly at her daughter. Tess looked up with a concise and matter-of-fact explanation for her disappointment in not seeing her tutor Gayle that day.
“I had a special drawing for Gayle,” she said. “And Gayle’s my special friend.”
