FRANKLIN — With one daughter in college and the second about to graduate from high school, Terri Logan was coming to the end of her role as a homeschool mom. She was beginning to think about her next ministry, preferably one that included teaching and children.
Logan’s interest led her to the Cool Springs Christian Ministries (CSCM), a self-sustaining ministry arm of ClearView Baptist Church, Franklin. Logan directs the CSCM tutoring program for at-risk children.
Logan said homeschooling gave her the on-the-job training she needed to lead the tutoring ministry. “This is not a job to me. I’ve found my passion.”
During the school year, a ClearView bus driven by a volunteer (most are senior adults) picks up 15 children from Liberty Elementary School on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30 and takes them to a house next to the church.
“It’s like they’re going home to do their homework,” Logan said. The first item on the agenda is a snack followed by Bible study. Then the tutors, primarily high school students and a few adults, meet one-on-one with their children until 5:30. When homework has been completed, tutors provide extra help in math and reading. At 5:30 the bus departs to drop the children at their homes.
Children participating in the program are chosen by their teachers because they are lagging behind others in their classes, Logan said. Most lack parental help with their schoolwork. Some live in homes where their parents don’t speak English; others reside with grandparents or single parents who work long hours. Some parents are incarcerated.
“They just need somebody stable to be a role model and help them to read and write,” she said.
In addition to schoolwork, Logan said the children are taught about Jesus through the Bible study and informal conversations.
In addition to helping with homework, Logan said the tutors provide a loving relationship with their assigned child.
While Logan has seen numerous success stories with children, she cited a boy named Marcus who was shy and fearful when he first entered the ministry.
By the time he finished fourth grade and graduated from the program, “he had become confident about doing his homework and more self-confident in general,” said Logan. “Marcus is getting awards now in intermediate school. I feel blessed that we had a part in this young man’s life.”
Dewey Griffin, a senior adult who began volunteering his time to teach short map studies in January of this year, acknowledged, “I didn’t know what I was getting into. Terri has the respect of those students. When she tells them to do something, they do it. You ought to see the children love on those tutors. This has been more beneficial to me than to the kids.”
Logan, who also teaches women’s and high school student Bible studies at ClearView, said the tutoring ministry represents an “opportunity to pour life into others.”
John Gardner, missions pastor at ClearView, said one key to the success of the ministry has been the relationships Logan has developed with the principal and teachers at the school.
Also, “the intergenerational mix of volunteers gives the children a balance of what friends and families can be.”
— Lawson, a member of ClearView Baptist Church, Franklin, is a correspondent for the Baptist and Reflector.
