After more than ten years of supporting Wisconsin students with high-impact tutoring through Reading Corps, we introduced Math Corps to the Badger State in 2023. The program started small: just nine tutors across eight schools in Milwaukee. Even with this modest beginning, results were overwhelmingly positive, with more than 250 students receiving personal support!
“It’s been a huge success,” says Itzel Galindo, Executive Director of Wisconsin Programs. “We got great data on outcomes for students, high numbers of students served, and really happy partnerships with schools.”
Thanks to the generous support from Serve Wisconsin, there will be hundreds more student success stories in the year to come. On August 30th, Serve Wisconsin announced that more than $340,000 would be allocated to expand Math Corps in Wisconsin. Beginning this fall, the program will more than triple in size to 30 tutors across six cities.
One of the Math Tutors in the state’s initial cohort was Ricardo, who joined the program after retiring from a 50-year career in journalism. Though math wasn’t a subject he had a special interest in, he excelled at tutoring the subject thanks to the program’s training and coaching support. A Navy veteran, Ricardo cherished the opportunity to serve the students of his community through Math Corps.
“The Navy taught me that I could thrive in service doing things I never thought I would be able to do, like be a math tutor,” he says. “The most gratifying part of serving is watching students have those ‘a-ha!’ moments and hit their benchmarks. Seeing their progression is very satisfying.”
Determined to bring Math Corps to even more Wisconsin students, Galindo reached out to Serve Wisconsin about supporting an expansion. She credits their team for working overtime to secure the financial backing necessary to support more students this year.
“We’re so thankful for everyone at Serve Wisconsin, and especially Executive Director Jeanne Duffy, who went above and beyond for us,” she says. “If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have Math Corps in Wisconsin at all this year.”
Thanks to the funding that Duffy helped to secure, Math Corps aims to help 720 students gain better math skills and make the kind of progress that Ricardo saw every day. The grant marks the first ever support from Serve Wisconsin for either Reading Corps or Math Corps. Galindo hopes to continue working with the organization in the coming years to support ever more students in the state.
“The vision is to continue to grow Math Corps,” she says. “Hopefully with Serve’s support moving forward, we’ll have an even bigger impact next year!”
Want to serve your community and help local students achieve more? Math Corps is still looking for tutors in Wisconsin and across the country! Go to join.readingandmath.org to learn more and browse openings.