84th FTS teams up with local school to tutor students

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Nathan Maysonet
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Members of the 84th Flying Training Squadron have teamed up with St. James Episcopal School in Del Rio to tutor students falling behind in class.

The program, which began last September, was designed to focus on those students who are not yet ready to go on to new subject material alongside their peers.

"It was apparent the schools needed some tutors," said Lt. Col. John Foncannon, 84th FTS director of operations. "They were looking for people to help the kids so I found some college-educated pilots who could help out."

The idea for the program came from a dinner table discussion with his wife Jennifer, who teaches 3rd grade at St. James, said Foncannon. His wife explained the difficulty in helping students falling behind while trying to move on to new lessons with the other students.

"We saw this as a real target of opportunity to help those kids move forward," he said.

After getting approval from the school's principal and the 84th FTS commander, Foncannon began looking for people interested in helping and now has seven instructor pilots volunteering an hour a week tutoring elementary and middle school students.

"We all saw this as a great way to give back," said 1st Lt. Joseph Atherton, 84th FTS instructor pilot. "This lets us help and since many of the kids are from Mexico it helps us get the Air Force message out to those who might not normally see it."

In addition to helping kids, Atherton believes tutoring the younger children helps develop the instructor pilot's professionally.

"We are constantly teaching like minded people," he said. "Going out to teach an eight-year-old is a great challenge that forces us to come up with new ways of instructing that could help us in our own classrooms."

At present the program focuses on math and reading with the student's teachers developing the curriculum for the tutors to work with, said Foncannon.

So far the work of the tutors has received a lot of positive feedback from teachers and students.

"The tutors have been a fantastic influence on the kids," said Sarah Maxwell, head of St. James Episcopal School. "What began as an attempt to raise math scores has grown into so much more."