Hazel Hill Homework Club brings UMW student tutors to local community

ASHLEY MARTIN Staff Writer

The Hazel Hill Homework Club, a partnership formed in 2012 between the UMW College of Education and the National Housing Trust, is currently seeking UMW student volunteers to help tutor children in the community.

Since the program started in 2012, over 500 UMW students have volunteered, according to Alexis Rutt, the UMW director of the Hazel Hill Homework Club and assistant professor of science education. The students volunteer throughout the week in the Hazel Hill Apartments, located on Princess Anne Street in downtown Fredericksburg.

“It’s such a cool opportunity for our students to get involved in the community in a way that’s really relational and in a way that works with the future of the community,” said Rutt.

Senior elementary education major Taylor Grigsby was placed in this club to fulfill her practicum education requirement.

“It was definitely different for me because you don’t really have a mentor teacher,” she said. “You’re not working in a specific grade level, you’re working with so many different other kids. But the experience is just amazing because you’re getting so many different minds and people all in one classroom, and you can really help them personally.”

Senior special education major Katya Stafira has also volunteered.

“Being a volunteer is a little crazy, but it is really fun because you kind of get to go in and just be like the fun tutor for the kids,” she said. “Seeing those kids really succeed and progress just through their homework is amazing.”

The club is open to all residents within the apartment community and mainly serves students from first to seventh grades.

“Being able to be together in a community of people who are just like them because a lot of the students in the program are Afghan and all get along in that way. They understand each other culturally,” said Stafira.