In September of 2021, Ron Haas and Keishon began meeting weekly at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, Cluster’s new location for Monday evenings. Though the pair were new to each other at the time, neither of them were new to Cluster Tutoring.
Ron first began volunteering with the Cluster Tutoring Program back in 2004. Initially, Ron heard about the Cluster Tutoring Program through his church. At the time, he did not know anyone else doing it, but felt called to join. Over the years he has worked with many students and remains committed to helping students grow.
Born and raised in Chicago, Keishon is a 7th-grader at Leif Ericson Academy. Keishon says that his favorite subjects in school are history, writing, reading, and physical education. Outside of school, he likes to play basketball.
Keishon joined Cluster Tutoring in 2020, shortly before Cluster pivoted to virtual tutoring. Like most of our tutors and students, he says he prefers in-person learning as opposed to virtual learning.
During their time at Cluster each week, Keishon and Ron focus on math, as well as some reading. Some of the subjects they read about are engineering, space exploration, and rockets, according to Ron.
When asked what he enjoys most about Cluster, Keishon says, “I enjoy doing the work with Ron; him helping me with all of it and helping me understand it.” Keishon says that he also enjoys Cluster Tutoring because it is more relaxing than being at school.
When working with Keishon, Ron says he, “likes to see him learn something he did not see before.” Furthermore, Ron says, “the light comes on and it all makes sense. That’s good to see when they really make some progress.”