Volunteer Profile: Lauren Foley

 The work of Boston Partners in Education volunteer academic mentors not only affects the students who are mentored, but it brings about important changes to the entire classroom. Lauren Foley has seen this firsthand as a volunteer at the Emerson School in Roxbury.

Lauren has been volunteering with Boston Partners in Education since February 2007 when she was welcomed as a math mentor in a fourth grade classroom. She has since started volunteering in two fifth grade classrooms, where she works with a total of four students. In her weekly classroom visit, Lauren helps the students during their math workshop. She encourages the students to think aloud and to talk through the problems. Together, they identify extraneous information and make a plan to solve the problem. They then justify the answer. Since working with the students, Lauren has seen their confidence grow, and in turn, an improvement in their mathematical thinking.

In addition to helping the four students she has been assigned to, Lauren sees an impact on the entire class room when she is helping out. “Reducing the adult to student ratio helps everyone in the classroom. The students I work with get extra attention, and immediate feedback about the strategies they are using. This allows the classroom teacher a chance to provide feedback to the other students in the classroom. . . All of the students in the classroom really enjoy having an additional adult to help them, not just the students that are assigned to me. It is rewarding to see their smiles when I walk into the classroom, and how I am welcomed into their community.”

Lauren, who is transitioning back into being a teacher after being out of the classroom since 1994, sees her volunteering experience as not only an opportunity to make a difference in the lives and education of the students, but also gains valuable experience learning the latest teaching strategies and updated curriculum. She enjoys thinking about how to phrase her questions to the students and also has an opportunity to practice keeping anecdotal records about the students progress.