A local organization is partnering with a national tutoring program to help bring more options to Mexico’s youngest learners and at the same time get some older adults more active.

Oasis Tutoring Program based out of St. Louis but with a national footprint has partnered with Anointed Life Services Ministry (ALSM) locally for the program. ALSM operates Ty-Land on the Mexico Square at 210 West Jackson next to the Chamber of Commerce.

Mandy Plybon, a program manager with the Oasis Institute, told the Ledger the not-for-profit was started in the 1980s in St. Louis and has since expanded nationally and was started with the idea of providing programming for older adults to engage their minds and bodies. Plybon said the mission of the institute is to, “Promote healthy aging through lifelong learning, active lifestyles and volunteer engagement. The tutoring program is the biggest piece of Oasis’s mission and is operated with the help of volunteers. 

The program has operated in Audrain and Callaway counties since 2021 and has a program up and running in the Van-Far school district. The program in Mexico will focus on providing an opportunity for older adults to re-engage with the local community, specifically working one-on-one with elementary school children and building their reading skills.

The program will focus on kids in Kindergarten through third grade. Plybon said the program will work with the school and teachers to identify which students could be a good fit for the tutoring program. She said kids who are on the bubble are good fits.

“We have some children who participate who are reading just fine according to the test scores but they may need the extra one-on-one support,” Plybon said. “They may need that one-on-one attention that their grown-ups at home or their classroom teachers are not able to provide or they may just have something going on where they need that extra adult support and our tutors can provide that extra attention that some students need.”

Dr. Anyana Shivers with ALSM said the program first approached them a couple of years ago but they needed a lot more information before proceeding. Shivers said one of ALSM’s board members became a tutor with the program. Shivers said the board members spoke highly of the program and after speaking with officials at the schools it became clear they would make good partners.

The after-school program will be at Ty-Land which Shivers said is a perfect location because of the logistics and safety. 

“At Ty-Land we have a great space that is open enough that anybody can see in and see what’s going on because we have a huge window up front,” Shivers said. “It’s open but you can also have some privacy.”

Shivers said they already do tutoring at Ty-Land which made it a fit but she also believes it gives kids who were already using services at Ty-Land to take advantage of a new service.

“We thought maybe this is a way some of the students who normally come to Ty-Land may realize, ‘Hey I’m already in this building and if I stay a little bit longer I may get some help,’”  Shivers said. “We’re really excited about the partnership and what it can look like.”

Plybon said some of the programs’ volunteers are retired teachers but others come from backgrounds not associated with teaching. She suggested if anyone is interested to come to a training course to see.

“At that time you’ll get a good sense of what you’ll be doing, what the materials look like, and what are the expectations,” Plybon said. “At the end of that training people typically know if it’s something they really want to try out.”

Plybon said some of the program’s best tutors and advocates were folks who were unsure at first about working with small children.

“They go into their sessions really nervous at the beginning and they are some of our best advocates of the program,” Plybon said. “They end up really enjoying themselves.”

The program is currently looking for more tutors. The program currently operates two days a week on Mondays and Thursdays from 4 to 4:45 p.m. Shivers said if the program gets more tutors and there is demand they may open up some other time slots.