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<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\nCLEVELAND (2\/11\/2021) – As children in Ohio are starting the process of moving back to in-person learning, hundreds of adult students are working towards their own education goals through Seeds of Literacy\u2019s virtual classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStaff members there said they desperately need more volunteer tutors to step up and help out.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBill Cook<\/strong>, of Northfield, came to Seeds of Literacy back in 2013 looking for a new challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI’ve taught most of the areas, mostly now I teach math,\u201d Cook said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs a retired engineer, math is an area Cook knows well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote>\u201cTeaching math, in particular, it’s helpful to use visuals,\u201d Cook said. \u201cThis is the first time that I\u2019ve ever looked forward to Monday mornings<\/em>.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhen classes moved online to Zoom, Cook\u2019s visuals went virtual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cSome people use whiteboards. Some people use paper and markers. Others are able to use whiteboard software and electronic tablets. So I’ve done all of that,\u201d Cook said. \u201cWe made YouTube videos of our lessons. And that was all effective, and now we’re able to meet in Zoom, use Zoom breakout rooms for one-on-one lessons with students, so that’s been very helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nSeeds are looking for more tutors like Cook to teach the basic adult education seeds students need to get their GED or just to simply better themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIt’s been a whirlwind,\u201d Todd Seabrook<\/strong>, the virtual site coordinator for Seeds of Literacy, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSeabrook said since July, 400+ students have enrolled at Seeds, with 75 to 100 logging in per week. Some are from as far away as California. But the problem is they only have about 50 active tutors right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote>\u201c50 tutors, even if they come multiple times, doesn’t always cover it. In fact, it rarely does. The last thing we want to do is turn away a student because we don’t have anyone there to work with them<\/em>,\u201d Seabrook said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSeeds especially need tutors in reading and math where the need is huge. They don\u2019t need any formal teaching training or experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cOur tutors are the key to our program. We cannot operate without them,\u201d Seabrook said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSeabrook said what matters is a tutor\u2019s attitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cOverall thing that matters is that you’re willing to help. And you yourself are also willing to learn. You don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need to know extreme high-level math or something. Most of our students aren’t at that level,\u201d Seabrook said. \u201cAre you willing to learn a new skill yourself? Are you willing to be empathetic for our students? Are you just willing to show up for them? That’s what matters most.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nLenny Horowitz<\/strong>, of Cleveland Heights, has been a tutor since October 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote>\u201cListen, this is awesome<\/em>. I mean, this is the best thing I’ve done in retirement – that and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pickleball\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pickleball<\/a>,\u201d Horowitz said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLike Cook, Horowitz is a retired engineer and also teaches math at Seeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe does it for the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cEverybody wants to learn. Everybody has a goal. You know, they want to be able to read to their grandchild, or they want to be able to take the next step where they work,\u201d Horowitz said. \u201cOr they want a whole new career that they’re going to pursue when they get their GED and they go off to college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd just over one year into his tenure as a tutor, he has a message for anyone out there who has a little patience and is willing to help those in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cDo it,\u201d Horowitz said. \u201cYou’re going to be nervous, of course, because you’ve never done this before. But you’ve got the staff. Seeds staff is incredible. They walk you through stuff, they make sure you understand what you need to do. If you think you might want to do it, try it. You’re not obligated, you know, just do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou do not need to be a professional educator to be a tutor. Seeds provides training. Anyone interested in tutoring must complete Seeds of Literacy\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/get-involved\/volunteer\/tutor\/\">volunteer application<\/a>, attend a tutor training (offered every Monday, except holidays, at 11 a.m. EST via Zoom), and observe a tutoring session. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSeeds of Literacy is also accepting <a href=\"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/get-involved\/donate\/\">donations<\/a> to support adult education and its impact on the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJade Jarvis is a reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jadejarvistv\/\">Facebook,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jadejarvisTV\">Twitter,<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jadejarvistv\/\">Instagram.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/video-channel-5-shares-our-virtual-classroom-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">This was Jade’s second visit to Seeds. CLICK HERE to check out her first story about us. <\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n# # #<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/volunteer-application\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BE A TUTOR<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News 5 Cleveland reporter Jade Jarvis visited the Seeds West classroom to speak with tutors Bill Cook and Lenny Horowitz about their experience in the …<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,5,637,102,4],"tags":[473,487,486,455],"class_list":["post-8457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts-resources","category-get-involved","category-news","category-newsrelease","category-who-we-are","tag-channel-5","tag-jade-jarvis","tag-media-coverage","tag-online-tutoring"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8457"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11895,"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8457\/revisions\/11895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seedsofliteracy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}