Volunteer tutor Ruth Cassady thought she made a big mistake. She picked up her tutoring students, Deonte’ Holland and Arianna Davis, as usual on January 7 and came to City Mission for their regular tutoring time. But the building was closed and the parking lot was empty because tutoring was scheduled to resume from the holiday the following week.

She could apologize to her students, return them home and start again the following Monday, or use the ‘mistake’ as an opportunity to spend more time getting to know her students.

“Initially I was mad at myself for getting the return date wrong,” Cassady said. “I was hoping for the best and it turned out to be a 'God kind of evening' after all.”  

Cassady chose to spend the time with her tutoring students and may have deepened her relationship with them and their families in the process.                

She found a Panera Bread restaurant nearby and - over muffins and cinnamon rolls - she used coins from her wallet and a deck of cards Arianna brought to tutor her students on addition and multiplication.  The students were on their best behavior and Cassady could see the improvements in their math skills, especially with Deonte’.

“In the car on the way home I hold Deonte’ how proud I was of his behavior in the restaurant and how well he was doing with the math questions we practiced,” she said. “He asked me if I would tell his grandparents that because he wouldn’t remember. I suspect the grandparents were happy to hear that feedback,” she said.

 “It is moments like this that the children and families develop a deeper trust in their tutors,” said Cynthia Tucker, City Mission program director.  “The students are better able to concentrate on learning, growing, and sharing their struggles and victories with them.”

Cassady believes the outing was a win-win for all parties involved, the students, their parents or grandparents and herself.

“I like going to bed feeling like there was success; some nights tutoring is like that and some nights you wonder,” she said. “But, its nights like that night, that keep that fire going to see what the following week can bring.”

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