A Marked Difference

Written by Pete Blodgett, Sunshine's Youth Pastor

Late one Thursday afternoon I was at the height of frustration. See, Club 2-5-2 (our tutoring program) is structured with "stations" - stations in reading, math, writing, technology, etc. At that moment my frustration was mounting, I was overseeing the tutoring station where students were working hard on improving their typing. Well, all except one. For some reason, one student, who I'll call "D.L.", insisted on typing "his way".

His way meant using two fingers to punch the keys - a way he was quite comfortable with. He was equally as comfortable with the slow pace of his way. (Perhaps some of you have similar stories with teaching your children.) I had tried everything to get him to do it "right": incentives, pleading, even punishment. Nonetheless, each week his stubbornness persisted, he continued to ignore me, and he typed his own way.

I soon found that if I pushed him too hard, he would shut down completely, making the matter even worse. He would hang his head and refuse to respond to anyone. He started using this shut down technique at any station that seemed too hard. The situation, clearly, wasn't getting any better and in time, I wasn't the only tutor who was frustrated by D.L.'s behavior.

Fast-forward a couple months and you'll find a new D.L. He enjoys every part of Club 2-5-2, even the technology station. He is more willing to work at stations that may seem hard at first, and his behavior has seemingly turned around completely. He has even started encouraging other students when they want to give up. As you can imagine, this is the change that we hope to see in every student.

None of us know exactly what brought about the sudden change. We do know that the D.L. who signed up for tutoring in September is not the same D. L. that returned from Spring Break. Perhaps he's simply grown in confidence. Perhaps it's an answer to prayer. Or, the likely scenario that it's a combination of both.

Not only is D.L. improving academically, but his character is being strengthened by the godly influence of our college tutors. He is starting to grow into the man that God wants him to be!