Senior-Student Learning Buddies Program Celebrates 15 Years

Editor's note: The following is a press release from Goff Public.

Educators and volunteers gathered for a luncheon this week to celebrate the 15th anniversary of one of the Twin Cities’ best kept secrets in volunteerism.

Facilitated by DARTS, Learning Buddies is an intergenerational program that brings older adults to classrooms to help elementary students with reading, math and science. The program began in Eagan in 1997 with a handful of adults who read with children at Glacier Hills Elementary School. Now, the program has 28 participating schools and 90 volunteers in Dakota County, including in . Some 37,000 children have been mentored during more than 67,000 hours with Learning Buddies over the years.

“The DARTS Learning Buddies program provides a vital link between schools in need of help and community volunteers who want to help,” said Jo Lynn Bucki, Learning Buddies Coordinator.  “Our wonderful volunteers look forward to working in classrooms just as much as the students look forward to seeing them.  The program is a win for schools, children and volunteers as they connect, share experiences, and learn from one another.”

Volunteers with the Learning Buddies program do a variety of activities, such as helping students with math problems, leading reading groups, or facilitating small groups in science activities. Some of the Learning Buddies volunteers have been with the program since it started, and some spend three entire school days a week helping in classrooms. Flint Hills Resources has provided funding and support for the Learning Buddies program since it began in 1997.

“It has been an honor for Flint Hills Resources to be a part of the success of the Learning Buddies program, said Scott Lindemann, vice president of operations and plant manager at Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend refinery. “From kindergartners to grandparents, there are countless lives that have been positively impacted by this program.”

Learning Buddies volunteers contribute the equivalent of more than $110,000 in volunteer time to schools each year.  Teacher surveys show that students who receive individual attention from Learning Buddies volunteers make significant gains in reading and math skills. 

As the 2011-2012 school year wraps up, DARTS is seeking new volunteers for next year. Click here for more information or watch a video about the DARTS Learning Buddies program.

About DARTS

DARTS creates connections that enrich aging. We provide practical services for older adults in their home, answer questions through an information hotline, keep people mobile with accessible ride services, and support family caregivers of elders with resources, coaching, and education. We engage all ages in volunteering and moving passions to actions, and we build community through innovative partnerships. More information about DARTS is available at www.darts1.org.

About Flint Hills Resources

Flint Hills Resources, LLC, through its subsidiaries, is a leading refining and chemicals company. Its subsidiaries market products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, biodiesel, olefins, polymers and intermediate chemicals, as well as base oils and asphalt. The refining business operates refineries in Alaska (North Pole), Minnesota (Rosemount) and Texas (Corpus Christi), with a combined crude oil processing capacity of more than 800,000 barrels per day.  The petrochemical business includes production facilities in Illinois, Michigan and Texas. The renewables business operates ethanol plants in Iowa, a biodiesel plant in Texas, and has made equity investments in bioenergy companies. The asphalt business produces and markets product in the Midwest and Alaska. A subsidiary owns an interest in a lubricants base oil facility in Louisiana.

Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend in Rosemount, Minn., has a crude oil processing capacity of about 320,000 barrels per day.  Pine Bend employs about 900 people full-time; an additional 200-2,000 contractors work at the refinery daily on construction and maintenance projects. More information about the company is available at www.fhr.com.