This week, October 5-9, is National Tutoring Week, and we're highlighting the crucial academic and social-emotional support that tutors at the IRC in Spokane, Washington, provide to refugee and immigrant youth across the city. Thanks to these staff and volunteers, the IRC is able to expand its reach each year and better support, encourage, and teach children of all ages. These tutors are the welcoming faces, homework helpers, and support systems that give students the confidence and skills they need to navigate a new school system and home. 

Last fiscal year, the IRC’s tutoring programs engaged 175 volunteer tutors who supported a total of 1,642 students across the nation. By offering one-on-one, culturally relevant, linguistically appropriate, and trauma-informed tutoring sessions, students are receiving the tailored services they deserve.  

Molly, a tutor with the IRC, shares that she tutors because, “these kids have really worked their way into my heart these last few years and I feel so lucky to get to work with them...and just in many ways have changed my life, honestly.” Molly describes a moment when one of her students showed up to tutoring one day in roller skates—which showed her that after a few years building relationships with IRC staff and other peers, the student felt comfortable showing up to tutoring as themselves and bringing some fun. Her hope is that her students not only grow academically, but also, “build confidence, feel heard, and feel like they have a community here.” 

Aly, another volunteer tutor with the IRC, adds, “I’m not there to give information or assign tasks, as much as I’m there to facilitate learning and help [my students] follow their own goals. The IRC gave me a lot of training. I have supervisors that don’t only give great advice and help me plan sessions but also observe and model best practices for me to follow. It’s been a pleasure.” 

Over the past year, staff and volunteers at the IRC in Spokane haven’t just tutored students—they've also helped shape new, publicly available national resources on how to better support forcibly displaced youth. That work is now available as a free, self-paced e-course on Kaya, built to equip volunteer tutors with the knowledge and skills to deliver high-impact tutoring sessions to forcibly displaced children and youth. 

One tutor who completed the training said it reshaped how they thought about tutoring altogether, realizing that supporting displaced youth is about far more than explaining a concept, and that building rapport is essential. Another tutor described “starting with general tutoring instincts but little knowledge of how to adapt to a student’s English proficiency level”. The training gave them concrete tools—vocabulary tiers, proficiency levels, and comprehension checks.  

It’s this kind of continuous learning that makes the program’s impact possible.  

Thank you, tutors 

On behalf of the IRC in Spokane, we’d like to thank all of our tutors for showing up for our students. In a time when so many families face uncertainty, our community of tutors have displayed consistency and a deep commitment to caring for students. Thank you—we appreciate you and couldn’t do this without you!  

Want to get involved? 

To learn more about or be a part of our tutoring program at IRC Spokane, please reach out to Karina.Dautenhahn@rescue.org. 

 

Written by Alexander Laywell, Technical Advisor for Education & Youth and Joy Kim, Program Officer for Education Promotion and Impact