Jolanta Benal | Tutor

“Expect your volunteer time to become the highlight of your week.”

Jolanta sits on a couch with her tutee, Nicholas, as they read a Peanuts comic book together in Fall 2019.

What inspired you to get involved with CPNYC?

I was inspired, if that's the right word, by the 2016 presidential election; also, I'm a product of well-funded public schools and the inequities, especially racial inequities, in public education had been preying on me. Homework help at CPNYC seemed like a good fit between issues I cared about and the skills/knowledge I had to offer.

How have you served as a volunteer?

I started out doing homework help. I asked to tutor the first child I was paired with for that, then soon met Nicholas and asked to tutor him as well. The first summer after I started at CPNYC I also participated in a read-aloud program for summer camp.

Share your most memorable moment as a volunteer.

Nicholas and I video chatted most weekdays during the 2020 school shutdown. Slam-dunk, the most memorable moment was seeing him in person again.

What are some lessons you have learned through this process?

I've learned a lot about how to meet kids where they are, and also that I am much more patient with children than I am with adults. And after going on four years at CPNYC, nothing makes me fly into an incandescent rage faster than the racial and class inequities in the help and support available to children in academic trouble, whether the child's developmentally disabled (like my first tutee) or extremely bright but hampered by a learning disability.

What advice would you offer to future volunteers?

Expect your volunteer time to become the highlight of your week.