The Level Up program started at the Fairborn Community Library nearly a decade ago, and it’s still going strong. The program’s sustainability comes from the community’s need for accessible tutoring, but also the tutors that diligently work to help your students!
Meet Lucas Mohme! Lucas tutors at the Fairborn Community Library, and this is his first year teaching in Fairborn City Schools. Starting out as a phonics intervention teacher, Lucas has recently taken over a third-grade homeroom position.
I had the opportunity to discuss Level Up with Lucas.
What made you want to tutor at GCPL?
I was very interested to tutor at GCPL because I knew I could help students who were struggling or who were intrinsically motivated to be there. Getting to help students between K-12 is a unique experience where I get to work on high level math and teach reading strategies in the same session.
To you, what makes Level Up tutoring such an important library program for the community?
Many students come into Level Up with homework they do not understand and probably would not finish on their own. We get the opportunity to not only help those students complete their homework, but we also get a one-on-one time to help them solidify their understanding of the concept. Plenty of students have even come into the tutoring sessions with their friends instead of hanging out in the common area. They see that there is homework help available and take up the opportunity to work with us.
What is a student success story you’ve seen through Level Up?
There is one student from Fairborn City Schools who is a regular at the library for our tutoring sessions. At the beginning of our program in October or November, she came in struggling with geometry. Her quiz and test scores were not where she wanted them to be, and she didn’t even know how to begin most problems on her homework.
She comes in about once a week for extra help and ends up staying for an average of two hours. This gives us a chance to go really in depth on the geometry concepts that she is learning about. I will have her show me what she knows or thinks she knows on her homework so that I can see how she thinks about each concept. Then we typically use whiteboards where I do each problem with her until we have constructed enough to where she can do them independently.
Throughout this school year I have seen her growth in understanding. Her quiz and test scores are in the A-B range where she is happier with the results!
Stop into the Fairborn Community Library every Monday and Wednesday from 3:30-6:30 for homework help from Lucas and our other amazing Fairborn tutors!
When it comes to academic success, your library is here to help you LEVEL UP! Find tutoring times at your community library at https://greenelibrary.info/levelup/. This program is supported by the State Library of Ohio with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.