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Top-notch Tutoring
Retired math teacher Marilyn Graham helps kids from low-income families succeed
A
LEARNING NEVER ENDS Succeed2gether tutor Marilyn Graham goes over the lessons of the day
with Montclair student Passion McKnight.
Hailey, she says, is “bubbly and
enthusiastic. She was struggling with
the flash cards, so I said, ‘Let’s go
over to the computer and practice.’
And we found this game that taught
multiplication facts, and she just did
them boom, boom, boom. It was
totally different from sitting there
with the flash cards.”
Graham was surprised to learn
from a supervisor that not only was
Hailey getting higher math scores in
school, but the subject was now her
favorite.
Along the way, the tutor and the
tutored have become more entwined
in each other’s lives. “Passion seems
quiet and reserved, but seeing her
perform at a poetry slam showed
me another side of her,” she says.
“We made more of a connection,
because I could see what a good
imagination she has.”
Graham says she learns from her
students, too. “Sometimes they have
a different approach to a problem
that they come up with or learned in
school. And Hailey’s enthusiasm is
infectious. I tend not to be like that,
so it’s refreshing, and helps me open
up and change a little bit.” ■
– CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
“SUCCEED2GETHER EMPHASIZES DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR STUDENT
BEFORE YOU START TEACHING HER ACADEMICS. THAT’S HOW YOU GET BETTER RESULTS.”
MARILYN GRAHAM
20
BACK TO SCHOOL 2017 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
fter 25 years of
teaching math in
the Passaic public
schools, Montclair
resident Marilyn
Graham was burned
out. “I felt like I wasn’t good for
anybody anymore,” she says. “I was
done dealing with kids who have to
be there, but don’t want to be.”
At 60, though, she wasn’t nearly
done with helping children learn. At
first, she provided home instruction
for students on behalf of the
Montclair Board of Education. Then
two years ago, on her sister’s recom-
mendation, she attended a meeting at
the public library arranged by RSVP,
one of the largest volunteer networks
in the nation for people aged 55 and
older. She was interviewed about
where her skills could best be used,
and paired with Succeed2gether, a
Montclair-based nonprofit dedicated
to closing the educational achieve-
ment gap through supplemental
tutoring. The after-school program
that Graham joined takes place
3-6 p.m., Monday through Thursday,
between September and May, at the
Montclair Public Library.
Staffers matched her with Hailey
and Passion, then in third and sixth
grade and from Bloomfield and
Montclair, respectively.
“Succeed2gether emphasizes
developing a relationship with your
student before you start teaching
her academics,” Graham says.
“That’s how you get better results.”