One of Radiant System’s core values as a company is giving back to the communities in which we work and live. This mission drives our volunteer efforts, including a new tutoring program with Herndon Elementary School near downtown Atlanta, which is facilitated through our relationship with Hands On Atlanta.

Each Tuesday, Radiant volunteers drive to Herndon Elementary to help third grade students with their homework and other school projects, as well as participate in fun and interactive learning games and character-building activities. At the end of third grade, students must pass state-regulated CRCT exams and unfortunately, students at Herndon Elementary typically score far below state averages.

As one of the volunteers on the first day of tutoring, I can say that I had no idea what to expect. Given the history of poor exam scores, I anticipated having to work hard to help students understand and complete their assignments, but was shocked when I walked in and a group of girls handed me a dictionary and asked me to call out words for them to spell, they knew every single one. I was so impressed with how smart these children are, and more importantly, how eager they are to learn. Each week new volunteers come back to the office just as impressed as I was.

Many stories have been floating around our offices about employees’ experiences at Herndon, including this one from Brandon Johnson:

“Too cool to smoke!” That’s what my new tattoo on the back of my right hand, courtesy of Tavoris, says. In addition to some nifty dance moves, Tavoris also plays cornerback and linebacker for the Broncos football team. He wears #23. He, along with fellow classmate Antoinette, needed help with long division on Tuesday afternoon. So there I was, trying to remember how to do math without a calculator. After a quick glance at the 16 homework problems before us, I said, “Wow. These are hard,” – probably not the most inspiring message that’s ever been uttered. But I’m an engineer by trade, not an orator. And with that, we plugged away over the course of the next hour, tackling one problem after another. In the end, I think all three of us felt as if we had successfully mastered the art of long division.

All of the kids want to learn. All they need is a little push, a little encouragement and tutors who can tackle long division…

I believe it is safe to say that this volunteer program has impacted Radiant employees just as much as it has these students.

Check out a recent article in the John’s Creek Herald about Radiant and Herndon Elementary School.

Tags: Hands On Atlanta, Herndon Elementary

This entry was posted by Jessica Lundberg, Senior Marketing Manager on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 11:35 am and is filed under Executive, Hospitality, Retail, Sports and Entertainment, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.