By Ryan Wilson, Editor
SPRINGFIELD — Lincoln Land Community College’s softball team has gone back to elementary school, where it is learning discipline and patience.
The Loggers are learning this from 18 kindergartens through fifth-graders at Black Hawk Elementary School. These students are homeless or low-income. Some of these children do not have supportive families or food.
“Afterward, we (the Loggers) appreciate things a little more,” said Taylin Balding, an infielder for Lincoln Land.
Five to seven members of LLCC’s softball team helps tutor these students with reading or math from 2:20 to 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday at the South Side Christian Church on MacArthur Boulevard.
This is possible through the Compass Program. It is a nonprofit organization that helps homeless and low-income students with schoolwork, food, supplies and enrichment. It assists students from Black Hawk, Dubois, Graham, Harvard Park, Hazel Dell, Matheny-Winthrow and McClernard elementary schools and Washington Middle School.
“Compass works on educating the children as whole persons and recognizes that social, emotional and life skills contribute to overall well-being and academic success,” says the Compass Program’s website, service2families.org/compass. “Compass aims to help all participants perform at or above grade level in school.”
The Black Hawk program is also partnered with the Faith Lutheran Church.
“I think it (the Compass Program) is nice to have our girls (the softball team) — especially the ones that are going into education — to get a little hands-on (experience),” said John Marsaglia, LLCC’s head softball coach and retired Pleasant Plains Middle School principal. “(They) kind of get a feel for what they’re going into.”
He said there are times in which the children act up.
Infielder/outfielder Stephanie Hunt said there was, for example, one time when a boy was frustrated that he had to clean his plate.
“I was trying to get a kid to clean up, and he didn’t want to,” she said. “He was running around the cafeteria, and he wouldn’t clean up his plate. Teachers had to run him down.”
There are also times in which the children don’t want to do math, said Balding, a graduate of North Vermillion High School in Newport, Ind.
So, Shana Waldinger said, they have “math games.” Waldinger is the Compass’s volunteer coordinator and site director for the Black Hawk program.
She said the games are fun activities that help the students learn the relationships between numbers, multiplication and division.
“It’s a little harder than I expected,” said infielder Stephanie Hunt, who wants to become a teacher.
The Lincoln Land students also help the kids in relays and Zumba. Balding said these activities were to wear off some of the kids’ energy.
“Yes, they (the kids) are rambunctious,” Waldinger said, jokingly. “It feels like more than 18 (kids).”
Afterward, I appreciate things a little more.
– Taylin Balding
Hunt said her favorite experience with the kids was Christmas. Some kids got bikes and clothes from donations.
The Compass Program hosts a ‘Tree of Wishes’ every year at the White Oaks Mall. The program has a Christmas tree that holds Christmas wishes of each child. People can take those lists and buy those presents.
“They were so thankful,” she said. “A lot of them said they wouldn’t get anything on Christmas, which was kind of sad. They were excited for the toys they got.”
The Loggers started tutoring the students in October. Feb. 25 and March 4 will be their last days helping the students, as the softball team’s season started Feb. 20.
“(Black Hawk) The students think it’s cool that adults (volunteers) come, but really love college students,” Waldinger said.
Waldinger said the Black Hawk students recently made “Thank You” cards for the softball team. Same kids, she said, wrote, “You’re my favorite volunteer,” to a softball player, despite there being 26 other volunteers.
“It’s just cute going through cards and seeing, ‘You’re my favorite volunteer,’ and all these funny things,” she said. “It’s kind of funny to me. … But they (the children) love the college students.”
Marsaglia said this experience helps teach the softball players the importance of having a supportive family.
“The purpose (the Compass Program) of this is to provide both academic and activities for the kids,” said Marsaglia. “So these guys (the softball team) tend to be as much of a role model, if anything. Because the kids will look up to them and listen, hopefully. Now they come back to me and tell me stories about, ‘Oh, man, last night’s kids were …”
This is the second-straight year Lincoln Land’s softball team has helped tutor kids through the Compass Program. LLCC’s volleyball and ‘Loggers for Christ’ also help. ‘Loggers for Christ’ is a club for athletes in which they perform community service.
The volleyball team works with the children during a 45-minute enrichment period every Wednesday. The kids learn about self-confidence, self-esteem and bullying.
“For me, I love seeing the kids every week and seeing the joy that they bring in Compass,” Waldinger said. “But in particular, as the volunteer coordinator, I love the way it affects our volunteers. I love that different community partners come together.”
Ryan Wilson can be reached at [email protected] or (217) 786-2311.
