Heart Math Tutoring Receives $20,000 From Wells Fargo For Billingsville Leadership Academy
September 11, 2015
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Sept. 11, 2015 – For the second consecutive year, a grant of $20,000 from Wells Fargo will allow Heart Math Tutoring (“Heart”) to provide its volunteered-delivered, math intervention program at Billingsville Leadership Academy (“Billingsville”).
Heart Math Tutoring is a nonprofit group dedicated to helping disadvantaged students develop math skills and academic confidence. It recruits and supports volunteers to work as tutors for elementary students who are performing below grade level in high-poverty schools. Starting later this month, around 75 Billingsville students will be seen one-on-one by a tutor twice per week, through early May.
“We are proud to support an organization like Heart Math Tutoring where their focus is to eliminate the achievement gap and provide a quality education for all students,” said Kristi Thomas, Community Affairs Officer for Wells Fargo. “Our vision for the communities we serve aligns directly with Heart’s mission and work.”
Wells Fargo was among Heart’s first institutional funders when Heart became an independent 501c3 nonprofit in 2014. “We are very grateful for Wells Fargo’s support at Billingsville – a flagship school for the program,” says Emily Elliott, executive director of Heart. “This renewed grant allows deepened impact, as the number of students and tutors continues to grow and Billingsville students can enroll in the program for multiple years.”
Heart will also be welcoming almost 30 Wells Fargo employees as volunteer tutors across its seven school sites in the 2015/16 school year. Volunteers will spend one hour per week before work or at lunchtime helping students build academic skills and confidence.
Heart uses research-based assessments and provides volunteer-friendly lesson plans that target the gaps of each individual student. To date, 97% of students tutored by Heart have met program growth goals set in partnership with CMS. The tutor-student relationships also boost the students’ self- confidence and improve the flow of social capital among races and socio-economic groups in Charlotte.
Michelle G. Johnson, principal at Billingsville Leadership Academy says, “Thank you to Heart Math Tutoring and to Wells Fargo for supporting Billingsville. Heart tutors not only provide a highly effective math intervention, they also provide a great deal of encouragement and support to students and serve as their personal cheerleaders.”
Billingsville is one of seven Heart school sites in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) in 2015/16. Heart is currently recruiting volunteers to work as tutors for 350 students in the 2015/16 school year.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.7 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,700 locations, 12,500 ATMs, and the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 266,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 30 on Fortune’s 2015 rankings of America’s largest corporations. In 2014, Wells Fargo donated $281.2 million in grants to 17,100 nonprofits, and team members volunteered 1.74 million hours around the country. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells Fargo Blogs and Wells Fargo Stories.
Heart Math Tutoring
Heart Math Tutoring is a Charlotte-based nonprofit with a mission to ensure that all elementary students develop a strong foundation in math and enthusiasm for academics by leveraging the powerful resource of volunteer time. Community members commit one hour per week to deliver an effective, hands-on curriculum through one-on-one tutoring sessions during the school day in Title I elementary schools. For more information, visit http://heartmathtutoring.org.
###
CONTACT:
Jenni Walker – Walker PR Group – 980-339-8041-office/704-649-6571-cell Emily Elliott – Heart Math Tutoring – 980-292-2297
Photos courtesy of Heart Math Tutoring.
These images are of Heart volunteer tutors and students at Billingsville Leadership Academy.