“I have fallen absolutely in love with these English Essentials students, and I am so glad that AmeriCorps has given me the chance to work with them. A lot of times, people will not do better until they see and know that there is better for them to do. Though they are challenging, they are also beautiful kids with great talents and potential.”
—Jermaine, graduate student and Project HEART member
“I’ve learned to have compassion for people that are less fortunate than myself. I’ve learned to appreciate my fifth-grade students. I’ve learned that what I do makes a difference. I’ve learned that teaching may be something I want to do with my life. I’ve learned that kindness does go a long way with kids. I’ve learned that in order to tutor high school students, you have to be able to reach them. I’ve learned about expectations for students. But most of all, I’ve learned that the greatest gift in life is giving itself.”
—Nellary, high school student and Project HEART member
“Doug came up to me on Monday and told me he failed his geometry test, and that he was a failure who would never amount to anything in life. This completely broke my heart. I started looking over his test with him. Since I am no math person, I noticed that if he had gotten all of the vocabulary words right, he would have passed the test. I challenged him to get all the vocabulary words right on his next test. When I came in class on Wednesday, he almost plowed me over to show me his test. He made a 99 on it and got all the vocabulary words right! I was so proud of him. I think our AVID kids are really starting to feel more confident in their schoolwork. We’ve seen some really good improvements.”
—Roxanne, Project HEART member
“Project HEART has helped my son Tyrone. His attitude towards school has changed since he started working with a Project HEART member. He didn’t used to like to read, but having someone work with him has changed that. Now Tyrone loves to come home from Chocowinity Middle and read to me, my husband, and his grandmother. Tyrone also made the honor roll this year.”
—Trina, mother of a student mentored through Project HEART
