LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville nonprofit is connecting students for tutoring and mentorship to improve academic performance and social development.
Educational Justice is striving to end educational inequity by pairing students around Louisville for long-term tutoring and mentorship.
Niko and Corey have been working together since last November. Niko, a freshman at Kentucky Country Day, works with Corey, a fifth grader, on math, reading and science.
Educational Justice meets at Iroquois Library in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 8, 2025.
"He's super determined and he never gives up," Niko said of Corey.
When asked why he doesn't give up, Corey responded, "Because I have to keep on practicing and keep on being clever."
The two are part of Educational Justice's one-on-one free tutoring program.
"Being able to remove the price, the transportation barriers so someone can have access to that is incredibly important," said Torrence Williams, who serves as the board chair for Educational Justice.
Williams grew up in poverty and a single-parent household. He knows the struggles students face and the barriers preventing them from succeeding academically.
"What Educational Justice is doing is really being a game changer for us to be able to provide free access to tutoring for someone who might not have someone in their home who can help them with math, science, social studies when things get tough or they might not be able to understand something," Williams said.
The Louisville nonprofit wants to end educational inequity by pairing fifth to eight grade students from low to moderate income homes with high-achieving high school students.
Monica Flowers' son James needed a little extra help in math.
"Math was hard and he would try to avoid math and he wouldn't turn in math assignments and things like that," Flowers said.
The virtual tutoring helped James improve his math skills.
"Now he's turning in his assignments," Flowers said. "Things are getting done. His grades are going up."
Teachers see a more confident student in the classroom.
"When we have conversations with teachers, one of the biggest things we hear is more of an attitudinal discussion with the discussion," said Bryan Warren, executive director of Educational Justice. "The attitude of the students begin to change, they're more engaged in class, they're raising their hand more often, they're asking questions, they're participating in classroom activities."
But it's more than just tutoring and grades for the nonprofit.
"One of the secret sauces of Educational Justice is the partnering and connection that the two students make with each other," Warren said. "They make a commitment to work with each other for a minimum of one school year, an hour and a half every week, and what we work on in the front is really making sure they've connected as friends because once they do that, they will show up for each other."
While they start as mentor and mentee, they end up as friends. The mentors also get more than community service hours and resume experiences.
"The most important thing that is happening is they're building empathy and compassion, they're learning those soft skills, planning and preparing, those are the seeds of leadership development," Warren said.
The leaders of the nonprofit see a local impact with the program.
"On a national level its really hard to be able to affect the change that you may want to see in your community, right down the street there are so many opportunities for us to tap in locally to affect change within tens or hundreds within our community," Williams said. "That really is more tangible and faster when you talk about being able to push our community forward."
Educational Justice is holding its largest fundraiser of the year March 7. The Great Bourbon Spelling Bee will be hosted at the Mellwood Art Center and people can compete with other teams in spelling and trivia challenges to raise funds for the local nonprofit. People can register for the event until March 1.
The nonprofit has facilitated nearly 1,500 tutoring pairs since 2016. Students participating in the program raise their math grade level by 1.6 grades on average, according to the nonprofit. The reading level increases by 1-1.7 grade levels, on average.
To donate to Educational Justice, click here.
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