Tutor Connection Program Leaves Lasting Impact

Hearing from a student that a class you taught changed their lives is pretty special.

For Michelle Bailow, who runs the Tutor Connection program, it reaffirms that the work she does is important for students — who are future educators — and the youth they work with.

Tutor Connection is a community-based program that provides high-quality tutoring to youth currently or previously in foster care in San Diego County. The program is operated by SDCOE’s Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program.

Tutors in Tutor Connection are students enrolled in a teacher education course within the College of Education at CSU San Marcos and it’s embedded in a leadership course at San Diego State University.

Michael, a former student, recently shared his story with Bailow and the impact her class had on him and his family as they opened their home to three siblings in foster care. The class made him realize that sharing his home with foster youth, specifically siblings, was a choice he wanted to make to help others. 

“Thank you for being involved in getting good people to help kids in foster care,” he said. 

Bailow was speechless after hearing from Michael that the class impacted him so much that he became a foster parent that focused on keeping siblings together.

“Michael told me after he watched the video in our class, it really stuck with him because in the video the siblings get separated and he and his wife wanted to help and advocate for siblings to stay together,” Bailow said. “He also had one of my new students in his home tutoring his children. It was a full circle moment!”

The course at CSU San Marcos is designed as a service-learning course, with the tutoring as a component of Community Service Learning. Co-taught by a professor and an SDCOE employee, the curriculum includes instruction on tutoring from an educational framework and is complemented with information about trauma, abuse, neglect, foster care, professional boundaries, behavioral management and the laws related to the education of students in foster care.

“The fact that Michelle's Tutor Connection program impacts the trajectory of college students to continue to be of service to students in foster care is amazing,” said colleague Gabriela Delgado.

The program has been awarded the Outstanding Service Learning Community Partner Award by Cal State San Marcos five times, most recently in 2022.  

Bailow shared that Michael will be coming to the first day of classes this semester to speak to new students about the impact Tutor Connection has had on him and his family.   

“I am very excited about that because usually students are worried about all the requirements and have a hard time seeing the bigger picture and the impact they will make on the foster youth,” Bailow said. “Hearing from a past student always helps them get excited and feel calmer about the experience.”