Volunteer Spotlight: Jeff

Meet Jeff, a volunteer tutor at CEDARS! 

Having a passion for helping kids learn and grow, Jeff has been tutoring students for over 30 years. After retiring, he knew he wanted to continue to help others and began looking for ways he could give back to the community. He became connected to CEDARS through his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, who works on our team as the Donor Information Manager. She mentioned our need for more tutors, and Jeff immediately knew that he needed to reach out. 

“Tutoring at CEDARS has been very rewarding and incredibly humbling,” Jeff shared. “The kids are an absolute joy to work with, and the staff’s dedication to the kids is truly remarkable. I am honored to have the opportunity to work with the kids and staff; I always look forward to my tutoring days!” 

One of Jeff’s favorite memories of being a volunteer tutor came after working with a student who was struggling with math and didn’t enjoy being tutored. After a few weeks, Jeff proposed a deal with the student: He wanted 15 minutes to work with the student, and if the student was unhappy with Jeff, then he would allow the student to “fire” him on the spot. 

“He did not expect me to offer that kind of deal, and I explained that I was putting him in charge – my fate was in his hands. The student just responded, ‘Cool,’ and the next thing we knew, 90 minutes had gone by, and we had finished the chapter he was struggling with,” Jeff shared. “I asked him if he wanted to fire me, and he responded ‘Nah.’ We met at our next scheduled session as planned!” 

Another favorite memory also comes from a math student Jeff was tutoring. This student was failing the class and unfortunately far behind for the quarter. They were quite frustrated, but willing to try. Jeff and the student worked together to complete all the math assignments, and to top it all off, the student achieved a 100% on the final exam. 

“The student was so pumped. It doesn’t get better than that,” said Jeff. 

While receiving an unsolicited fist bump after solving a difficult problem or seeing the friendly head nod at the beginning or end of a session brings Jeff joy, his favorite part of tutoring is the feeling that overcomes him when a student is open to tutoring. 

“When the student allows you to work with them and help out with that day’s problem, it’s a humbling feeling,” said Jeff. “Kids know when you’re genuine and when you’re there for them.” 

Thank you, Jeff, for giving your time and talent to being here for the kids at CEDARS!