Q&A with Jacob B.| Tutor in Road to Success Program| 1 year with The Foundling

The Foundling offers dynamic, progressive and evidence-based services and programs to 30,000 children and families each year. What makes our programs so unique and successful are our dedicated and committed employees and staff. Get to know the people inside our organization by reading our blog each week as we highlight a new person.  We’ll ask questions about their role at The Foundling, what their passions and hobbies are outside of the office, and recognize their achievements and accomplishments.

 

 

How does The Foundling’s Foster Care Program help the people?

The Road to Success program greatly improves the academic performances of many of the students that we work with. We have helped students move from failing to passing and have helped them with graduating high school and successfully applying to college.

 

 

What are your major responsibilities at The Foundling?

As a tutor for the Road to Success Program, I work with students ages 12 and up, helping with homework and test preparation, and providing academic advising. I work with 19 students per week, for sixty to ninety minutes per student. I really enjoy the strong relationships that I have developed with my students and their families. Furthermore, tutoring leads to some successes that are possible only with individualized attention; it allows me to focus on the fundamental academic needs of my students over a long period of time. The consistent meetings allow me to push my students.

 

 

What inspires you most about working at The Foundling?

I am constantly inspired by the dedication of my colleagues. Despite dealing with intense situations and difficult cases, they manage to stay positive and continue fighting for their students.

 

 

Tell us about a student that has been successful!

I tutor a student in The Bronx and for much of the first year that we worked together, he had significant problems with mathematics. He was failing and really struggling to grasp the material from his math class. After a year of intense focus on fundamentals, he had a breakthrough. Since then, he has aced summer school and is now successfully passing his math classes.

 

 

What has driven you to be where you are today?

I have worked with children for most of my life, as a music instructor, tutor, and camp counselor. I am interested in pursuing a career in education however; I wanted to explore options outside of traditional school classroom. The Foundling provided me an opportunity to pursue my education goals while also getting involved with high needs students in a one-on-one setting.

 

 

Who is your role model and what do you admire about them?

One person I admire is my older brother. I find his insatiable thirst for knowledge inspiring. He’s always accumulating knowledge from a wide range of sources and becoming engrossed with something new. Watching him tear into dozens of books at a time makes me want to learn more about everything.

 

 

If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I have never been to Europe and I have always wanted to go visit Italy in particular. The food is supposed to be amazing and seeing actual Roman ruins would be like a dream.

 

 

Tell us about the latest book you’re reading, or recently read?

I recently completed “American Pastoral” by Phillip Roth. It’s a really pessimistic novel about a family that is torn apart by a daughter’s decision to commit a terrorist act. It deals with the collapse of the American Dream and is astoundingly well written.

 

 

What is your spirit animal and why?

I like to think I’m a dog of some sort, maybe a Labrador: friendly, happiest around people and always ready for some goofing around.

 

 

Want to learn about other Foundling staff? You can meet some of our other employees on TheMuse.com.