826michigan partners with Beezy’s Cafe for evening tutoring
The consolidation of Ypsilanti-area school districts brought with it a lot of changes. Among them was the closing of the school building used by local non-profit 826michigan to bring tutoring services to students. "They made some pretty significant changes with building usage," says 826michigan Executive Director Amanda Uhle. "The feasibility of running our program in Willow Run was just working out to be difficult." Finding an appropriate replacement location was no easy task, but once the idea came about to look outside of the school system for a location, they could think of no better place than Beezy's Café in downtown Ypsilanti. "As an organization, we are huge fans of the restaurant," says Uhle. "They have done things with us over the years, hosting events and catering a few fundraising things for us." In addition, Beezy's regular hours make it available during evening hours, rather than the after-school hours 826michigan traditionally held tutoring in Ypsilanti, which often presented a challenge with recruiting volunteers and facilitating transportation for students while their parents were typically at work. Uhle believes this will help attract more students and tutors. Additionally, she hopes the neutral location will be more inviting to students of all ages, as the former middle school location was most convenient for students of that age. Uhle estimates that about 75 students per year in Ypsilanti have participated in the tutoring program, and hopes to see that number grow with the new location at Beezy's Café. 826michigan serves even more Ypsilanti students inside schools during school hours, as well as students in Ann Arbor and Detroit. Source: Amanda Uhle, 826michigan Writer: Natalie Burg
