Bill Haslam's tutoring program has been a 'mini experiment' for students' return to school

Former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam believes his summer tutoring program has provided a "mini experiment" for how students could interact if classroom learning returns to Knox County Schools this fall. 

Haslam and his wife, Crissy, checked in Friday on the program at a branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, which has 71 tutors working with elementary school students to avoid summer learning loss.

The couple announced the Tennessee Tutoring Corps in May as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic closing schools. The program has paired roughly 700 college students with young children at clubs across the state.

"We're very concerned about the loss of learning that happens over a typical summer in education and we know with this longer summer, that will be effectively multiplied," the former governor said. 

Knox County Schools will release its reopening plan Wednesday. District schools closed in mid-March and remained closed for the rest of the year following advice from Gov. Bill Lee.

Each student has a plan 

The Haslams' toured the Halls/Powell Club, where students learn math and reading skills.

Students take an assessment that determines individual learning plans that align with state standards, said Polly Johnson, the person in charge of education and workforce programs for the Tennessee Valley clubs. 

Tutors wear masks as they teach small groups. Haslam stopped in a classroom Friday and praised a student for his writing.

"Wow, those are big sentences," Haslam said. "That's almost a book."

Another student, Madilynn Bradley, wrote about what she would do if she had a garden. Writing isn't her favorite subject, though. That would have to be recess or math, she told the Haslams.

Bradley enjoys the Boys & Girls Club more than school because she gets to see her friends.

"It's more funner than school," she said. "It's not boring."

When students aren't learning, they take a break in a recreation room for a game of foosball or pool.

Learn more:Former Gov. Bill Haslam, Crissy Haslam launch summer tutoring program to address COVID-19

A lesson in safe learning

Haslam compared the effects of COVID-19 to the Great Depression during a press conference following his visit, but he has faith "we will get through this."

The former governor is waiting to see the tutoring program's results before deciding whether he would like it to continue past August.

"To me, this is a good little mini experiment in kids being back present, and the Boys & Girls Club has worked really hard to set up a safe environment," he said. "I know Knox County Schools and all the other school systems are trying to do the same thing, likely."

Haslam hopes school systems can take lessons from the tutoring program and find ways to make in-person learning safe. 

"Crissy and I are like everyone else — we're eager to see how much difference this has made," he said. 

The former governor said roughly 1,100 tutoring applications were submitted, but only 700 tutors were placed due to spacing issues at clubs across the state. The original plan was to have 1,000 tutors in the program.