2016年退休时, former Burnsville Police Sergeant Dan Carlson traded in his holster for pencils and got a whole new blue uniform.
This uniform, however, has an AmeriCorps patch instead of a shiny gold badge.
在他当律师的第二年 明尼苏达数学队 tutor at Motley Elementary School in Motley, 明尼苏达州., the 58-year-old says that his 30 years of police work did not necessarily prepare him to help fourth and fifth graders with math proficiency.
“无论如何，我不是一个‘数学人’, 所以对我来说，理解课程, pull out concepts and present it to them is great. 我会做基本的数学, 当然, 在我的犯罪现场工作中, t在这里 was a lot of math involved in that – geometry and so forth – but I was not necessarily as confident about being a math tutor,他说.
But 数学队 had a greater need for AmeriCorps members, 其中一起发生在他家附近的学校, 所以他决定试一试.
“The (lessons are) laid out so well that it has really become quite easy,他说. “只要你遵循这个过程, it definitely does work because my kids are already doing much better than they were doing in the first month of school.”
The Journey from Police Officer to AmeriCorps Member
Carlson started his work as a police officer in 1980, spending the last 25 years of work on the Burnsville Police Department, w在这里 他说 he did “a little bit of everything,从犯罪现场调查到S.W.A.T. to internal affairs and emergency management. 他于2007年首次退休, “哪个”持续了大约两个月,” and then went back to work in consulting as a certified emergency manager for the state of 明尼苏达州esota. He “retired again” in 2016 and moved with his wife to the small Central 明尼苏达州esota town of Motley.
Carlson said he still wished to serve in some way and gravitated to helping students, so he first signed up to be a substitute teacher. He realized that AmeriCorps 服务 was a better fit for him after learning more about it from his adult daughter, 布丽安娜Mieklke, who is a Reading Corps tutor in Zimmerman, 明尼苏达州.
“Substitute teaching is a little tougher because you are putting in the time using a lesson plan that the classroom teacher developed and it’s only temporary,卡尔森说. “With 数学队, you really can dig into the curriculum that’s been developed for us. You can work at a pace that’s right for the kids, and you can see the kids’ growth over time. 这是值得的.”
“This is about giving back to the community and doing 服务,他说. “I’ve always been kind of a public servant anyway.”
+, Carlson liked the idea of part-time 服务 so that he could have time for other projects in his spare time. At 22 hours a week, his 数学队 服务 fits the bill perfectly, 他说.
数学队 Tutors Don’t Have to Be ‘Math People’
Carlson encourages anyone who has the time and inclination to do meaningful 服务 in their community to consider AmeriCorps and especially, 数学队. He said he realizes a lot of people are intimidated by the idea of helping with math skills – but if they are joining 数学队, 他们真的不应该这样.
“Because the curriculum is laid out for you, you don’t have to come in with a heavy math background. They’ll tell you and teach you what you need to know before you start,他说. “And the kids just need some help to get up to grade level. 这个过程确实有效.”
Although he raised two daughters (Brianna, 34, 和Brittney, 32), he admitted it had been many years since he spent time with 9 to 11-year-old kids, but he truly appreciates watching them learn and grow.
“你知道, the kids can be full of emotion at times, 但一般来说, they are ready to work when I have them,他说. “They work hard, they give me an effort – which is all I ask of them – and they’re doing well.”
有益灵魂
It’s a nice change in “clientele” from his work on the police force, 太, 他说, w在这里 “you are the bad guy to a lot of people a lot of the time.”
"当数学队的家教, t在这里’s just so much more positivity and positive interaction in contrast to some of the negativity that can come with doing police work –and the sadness that can come with police work, 一般来说,卡尔森说. “This is, by and large, more positive, and just better for the soul.”
——谢拉·泰尔·斯特恩
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