Dave and Janet Kenealy have 18 years of tutoring between them. They didn’t start out at the same time, but they’re both committed to serving in multiple ways.
Dave started tutoring about 10 years ago. “I just saw a notice on the First United Church bulletin board,” he said. Since then, he has tutored three different young men. One of them, Daniel, is now in his senior year at Quincy College, where he’s studying aviation. Dave has been with his current student, Xavier, for three years, and Xavier is now a freshman in high school.
Dave said he’s always started with students who are a little older, around 7th grade. At the beginning, he took a traditional approach, but found that he needed to go beyond that. “They’ve learned how to do the basics — how to write down assignments, how to do homework, how to study for tests,” he said. “After a while, my work shifts from being a tutor to being more of a mentor. We talk about how they should approach challenges and take personal responsibility.”
Janet saw how much Cluster meant to Dave, but she was busy at home with their own children, Anne and John. “Once they got a little older, I signed up to tutor,” she said. “I really was intrigued by the one-to-one nature of the program. I had been volunteering through our own children’s school, but this gave me a chance to concentrate on helping just one student.”
She has been tutoring for eight years and has had two students. She started working with her current student, Lanya, as a 1st grader, and now Lanya is in 5th grade. Janet describes Lanya as “very bright. She comes prepared and she does her homework. She’s a hard worker and reads quite well.” Janet said they work on reading comprehension for words Lanya doesn’t know yet. Lanya also has an interest in becoming an architect, so they work on math together, too.
They’ve both found ways to help out beyond tutoring. The heavy exterior door at Pine Avenue United Church had a tendency to slam shut, forcing students to jump out of the way. Dave ended up buying needed hardware to fix the door, and Joseph Owens, a program assistant on Tuesday night, repaired it.
Janet recently joined the Cluster Board of Directors. She said she appreciates the years of service and wisdom of those on the board, and looks forward to offering some new ideas and asking some new questions. “It’s always good to have somebody new,” she said.