In 2021 members of our ALLiED team provided high-dosage online tutoring to a group of JK - Gr 2 Indigenous students in Northern Ontario.  Our ten ALLiED tutors had an incredible experience of working one-on-one with these kids, bringing the magic of reading alive to each and every one of them.  

EllisDon's success is being held as a "gold standard" at Tutormate; we had kids expanding their reading skills by greater than 50% - and we were only tutoring them for 4 months!  (see #1 below for those metrics).  The school was in a community that was hard-hit by the opioid crisis - these kids were absolutely craving this kind of attention and opportunity.  I'm getting misty talking about it.....

Mirela Cupovic, one of our tutors had this to day about her experience in tutoring a child: 

I love tutoring because I feel like I am making a difference in the child's life - putting them on a path to reading success! Joining the weekly meeting and seeing how enthusiastic the student was to read to you made every week worthwhile. Seeing them from struggling at the beginning to reading you the entire story by the end made my heart melt - my help had made a difference, although small, it gave the student confidence in their ability to grow as a reader!

Jane Chapman, leader extraordinaire, has said:  “ It was such an incredibly gratifying experience that I personally will never forget. these children will be so much better off for your incredible commitment to their success.”

We now have 20 tutors ( 5 just from the Legal Dept!) who have already signed up to participate in the TutorMate program, from all across ED - multiple provinces - now teaching in multiple Idigenous schools in both BC and Ontario - starting January 2022.  That is a 100% growth of our tutoring power - and we even have a waitlist!! 

As EllisDon employees, we work very hard at what we do because a lot of people depend on us for our expertise and leadership.  However,  taking time to help a child in any way is the most rewarding experience and we encourage you to do anything you can, even in a small way, to help a child in need. In these times of uncertainty, having the ability to give the gift of reading,  even for one child, well, it’s everything.