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Langley CARES Volunteers Give Local STEM Students Virtual Tutoring

NASA Langley researcher Jessica Friz participates in a virtual tutoring session Monday at her home.
NASA Langley researcher Jessica Friz participates in a virtual tutoring session Monday at her home.
Credit: NASA

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a large-scale re-imagining of how learning can take place. That reality is felt by students and volunteers across the digital spectrum.

“Inequalities will be larger once this situation is behind us than when this started,” said Jeremy Pinier. “Our help is needed now more than ever.”

Pinier is one of several researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia giving their time and knowledge to students of all ages via math tutoring with the local Boys and Girls Clubs (BAGC) virtually through the Langley CARES program.

The aim of Langley CARES, or Community Alliance to Reinforce Education in STEM, is to empower the next generation of the NASA workforce in the Hampton Roads community. Individuals who participate in the program commit at least one hour a week, working with other volunteers to provide students of all ages with enriching STEM experiences and target subjects that students need the most help with.

Up until the shutdown occurred in March, CARES volunteers were leading hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities with the Boys and Girls Club students twice a week, said volunteer Jessica Friz.

Patrick Cosgrove, who initially spoke to Friz and Pinier about volunteering, is glad he did. Cosgrove helped found Langley CARES as a means to reach local students with the specific goal of providing more of an intuitive relationship to math.

“This work is all about the heart,” he said.

“Since everyone has gone virtual, we’ve set up online video tutoring sessions with the students in coordination with the BAGC staff,” Friz said. “This summer we’ll be leading more weekly STEM activities with the students via video chat, using simple activity materials so they can follow along at home.”

Given the unique circumstances, Friz and Pinier said the feedback from students has been positive.

“We get a lot of gratitude from the students, their parents and guardians, and the BAGC staff,” Friz said. “Many of the students love the hands-on STEM activities, though we do our best to encourage students in whatever subjects they may be interested in.”

“The volunteers have learned that part of developing trust with the kids is just continuing to show up, week after week. Once the students know they can count on our folks to be there, they open up to the subject matter and develop learning relationships that will benefit both the kids and NASA as we develop our workforce of the future.”

– NASA Langley Center Director Clayton Turner

Friz helps create STEM activity lesson plans for each week, coordinate with the BAGC staff, works to bring new volunteers into the group, and continues to work with the students every week.

“I love seeing the excitement of the students when they create something new, test something, get a little competitive for fun, and just learn,” she said.

NASA has put an emphasis on STEM learning and outreach as a priority for the agency to tackle. The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on inequities in education – especially for children with weak or no access to the internet.

“Education inequalities are the root of the issue when it comes to wealth and opportunity disparities that are prevalent in our country,” Pinier said. “Working to tackle the issue at its root, education, is one that requires immense amounts of patience, perseverance and stubbornness – and that’s on both sides, tutor and tutee.”

Langley Center Director Clayton Turner agreed that perseverance is key.

“The volunteers have learned that part of developing trust with the kids is just continuing to show up, week after week,” he said. “Once the students know they can count on our folks to be there, they open up to the subject matter and develop learning relationships that will benefit both the kids and NASA as we develop our workforce of the future.”

Pinier has been volunteering with Langley CARES since its inception two years ago. Friz joined last year after looking for more ways to do community outreach. Both Langley researchers, who were helping the local Boys and Girls Clubs in-person before the pandemic, take pride in the work they do for students and get confirmation of it each time they volunteer.

“One thing I know is there’s not a single time I’ve been to a tutoring session that I didn’t leave in a better mood than I was when I got there, with a sense of accomplishment, reenergized, and with more hope in our future generations,” Pinier said.

Friz, who has been volunteering in educational outreach since she was a teenager, said she loves working with the students and seeing their individual personalities, interests and strengths.

“Though their educational needs vary greatly, it’s wonderful getting to know them and learn more about how we can help,” she said. “It’s also just a lot of fun with the students because they always have something interesting to say and share.”

In any volunteering effort, putting in the time to see results is a long-term investment.  When the investment of seeing some students on a consistent basis ends up relying on your weekly presence, your constant cheerleading, your words of hope and encouragement, and hopefully your inspiration and your feeding of their dreams, that makes it well worth the effort, Pinier said.

“It’s been an all-around incredible experience and I hope to keep growing this project with my colleagues at NASA Langley, and keep making a difference in our community, one student at a time,” he said.

The feedback received from the Langley CARES students is unique to each one and each session, Cosgrove said. He added the common factor that unites the CARES volunteers is the desire to see a breakthrough happen – even if it takes some time to get there.

“I love reaching these kids in a meaningful way. I love the opportunity to tell them how much they mean to us, how meaningful their efforts to learn are to us,” he said. “It feels like we are making a difference, doing something needed in our community.”

Eric Gillard
NASA Langley Research Center