What is more important than seeing your child succeed and their confidence grow? Every parent wants this for their child, and together Karen Attwood and her tutors, at her multiple locations in Newfoundland, want to be the ones to help.

Discover the passion, desire and dedication that Karen and her tutors have for each and every student. Their goal is to build a strong foundation for each student that will set them on the path for success now and in the future.

Interview was conducted verbally, so transcript reflects natural, conversational English with conscious light editing versus what might appear in a formal, written piece.

Karen: Yes, it is. I actually operate 3 locations within Newfoundland. I also have a Master License Agreement for Atlantic Canada. I opened the first location in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland in May 2005 and in Paradise, Newfoundland we opened in 2007 and Stavanger Drive, Newfoundland in 2012.

My plan now is to continue growing these tutoring locations and to develop other Atlantic locations for the Academy with entrepreneurs with the same passion for children and their education as I have. I look forward to offering our unique tutoring programs to other Atlantic Provinces as well as Newfoundland.

Karen: Yes, it does.

Karen: Well, as mother of 2 growing children, I wanted a business which would allow me the flexibility to raise my family and would allow me to assist other parents in helping their children achieve their goals. When the opportunity arose, I couldn’t pass it up. Even with the long hours I knew it would take – and with the support of my husband, Wayne, who had to be Mr. Mom a number of times over the past 11 years – it was a dream come true.

Karen: I certainly am.

Karen: Well, at the Academy for Mathematics & English we offer tutoring for students K up to grade 12 and we specialize in Math, English, Reading, Physics and Chemistry. We custom-tailor individual programs to meet each student’s needs. So we look at their weak areas as well as their strengths. We also offer tutoring for post-secondary students in first year in Math, Physics and Chemistry.

On top of that in 2006, I introduced a kindergarten program – our Little (Li’l) Learners – for children aged 3 – 5. Within that program, we help and prepare our students for the big step into kindergarten. In a structured setting with qualified teachers we work with our little ones through fun activities. Our children learn to recognize and place numbers and letters; how to write journals and stories. We do math concepts as well as socializing with their peers. This is all designed to represent a typical kindergarten class.

Another thing we do with our students is we do not only build their knowledge, but we also build their self-confidence and independence and I really believe that is the secret to their success.

Karen: Yes, we do. We have larger groups in Bay Roberts and Paradise and multiple groups. In Stavanger, which is a new location, we are still building on that area.

Karen: Well, they would come to the Academy two days a week and two and a half hours each time. They do bring a little snack with them – so a little recess. So we really do get them into the kindergarten format where they have a little recess and have fun playing and so on.

Karen: Well, basically our typical customer would be parents or guardians from pre-schoolers right up to high school age children who want their child to have every opportunity to be successful in reaching their educational goal – being independent and confident in everything they do.

We’ve also had young adults who are university students wanting help with their course and we have also had adults coming in who had to go back to do upgrades and other things to better their future so they have come in for tutoring as well.

Karen: We have a lot of Math students coming in for tutoring, and some Physics and Chemistry. Our English program is certainly picking up as well. Our Little Learners, I must say, is the driving force in Bay Roberts and Paradise because it has been going for quite a while so we have a number of students in that program as well.

Karen: I really enjoy meeting my students and their parents, knowing that when they attend the Academy I am able to watch them grow and develop a strong foundation for the future. I am very lucky to have excellent teachers who are just as passionate about our students’ success as I am. They are actually the reason why I am able to do what I do – not being in each centre 100% – my teachers are basically me and they take care of all our students’ needs – and they have been fabulous.

Karen: Well, the Academy is actually unique. In our quiet, friendly environment, the students work in individualized workstations – so they are assisted by tutors in their private workstations, without peer pressure or distraction. We assist a wide variety of students including those who want to maintain good grades, those who want a challenging and enriched program, and those who are experiencing challenges in school. By helping these students excel as learners the Academy ensures these individuals gain the confidence and skills to succeed at home, school and in their future careers.

If students don’t understand the basic concepts in the early grades, then these gaps quickly widen and we have to help our students fill those gaps or they lose interest and are not confident in their abilities. If we don’t fill those gaps, these students will fall further and further behind. So, at the Academy, we fill these gaps to ensure that students understand and enjoy their studies. They work at their own pace, (which is important), in a supportive and understanding environment. So the teacher has no problem explaining the same thing over and over again if that is what the child needs, with practise in between because that is very important. They have to be able to practise in order for them to learn it. So these strategies help reduce peer pressure, discipline problems and other learning barriers that our students may have.

Karen: Well, we strive to build confidence in our students by giving them different things to achieve. We have a Student of the Month Award as well as our Student Achievement Awards. Each month two students will receive a certificate to put on the wall as well as a gift card to anywhere they would like to shop. So it is just little motivations like that. As well we recognize our students’ success with our Shining Star Board. So every time a child comes in with a little test or quiz or something that they have from school or even if they have done something at the Academy that they have improved on, we put their name on the Shining Star Board. They love that. Whether they win the monthly awards or not, every child’s name goes on that board.

Karen: Yes, because we believe that all goals are met through small steps. So, every student who achieves better marks, we want to recognize them for that. As well, for our parents and students, if they refer a family member or friend and they enroll, I offer the student a gift card for anywhere they like to shop. They enjoy this because I will go to them and say, “Thank you for bringing a friend to the Academy. So where would you like to spend my money?”

Karen: They do. I have had a couple of students who have had a bit of a shopping spree.

Karen: Yes, we certainly do. We started this a couple of years ago. We have an Art Auction where we showcase artwork from our little artists, as we call them, where they invite their families and friends to come in, and it is open to the public, to come and bid on their artwork. Each year the money that we raise is donated to a different charity. So, we have helped out Breast Cancer, and the Angel Fund. Actually, this year there was a little girl that passed away at 5, who had struggled with a lot of health issues. So there is a charity set up for the disease that she had, so we are helping out with that. This year we raised money for that and Janeway as well. So we tend to centre this around charities in the area.

In between all that, we have different themes each month. So we do a Pirate theme. So, the little ones can come in dressed up as pirates. We have special people come in, like a veterinarian comes in and spends a day talking to them about pets. We’ve even had a police officer come in and also hosted different events that bring the community to our little ones.

At the end of the year we have a little graduation for our graduates who go to kindergarten in September. So these are students that we have had probably for the past two years when they started at the age of three, and they stand up in front of the moms and dads, with cap and gowns on and they sing their songs and get to say a little piece about who they are and what they want to be when they grow up.

Karen: They are so proud.

Karen: We start very young with the confidence building, so that is very sweet. So they then receive a diploma and they sing songs and then we have a little celebration with cake and so on for the parents. The parents really enjoy this, and I and the teachers have shed a few tears over the past years.

Karen: Oh yes. Especially when they start at the age of three and you see them for two years straight, and you watch them grow from a baby.

Karen: Of course. The question is now where do I start? There are so many!

There is one student in Bay Roberts who actually started with me shortly after I opened. He was in grade 5. He was really struggling when he started. He just graduated in June and he got accepted to his chosen faculty with excellent grades. He uses me for references actually for jobs that he has applied for. I really miss him. He was a big part of Bay Roberts.

I have had another male student out in Bay Roberts who was with me a number of years as well and for the first few years he wouldn’t speak – very shy. Of course, all I would get was a grunt or Elvis grin when I tried to speak to him. So, of course, I continued to try because that’s what I do and who I am. One day he came in and spoke to me. I just wanted to hug him so I ended up having to call his mom and tell her because it took so long to get him to actually have a conversation and now he is finished and has gone on to his current endeavours.

Let’s see – Paradise. We had a little girl who started with us in grade 7. She was so frustrated with her studies and her confidence was just not there. When she graduated two years ago, she graduated with honours and now she is in her faculty and doing quite well.

A funny one I had was a young girl in grade 12 – came in by herself – an honour student. When she came in she said, “I am an honour student who hasn’t had to study and I know that if I don’t learn now I will not make it to MUN (Memorial University of Newfoundland) with the marks I want so I am going to commit to you so that I can commit to my education.” I am just thinking wow! She pulled out her parents’ visa and said, “Mom said I can sign up.” She graduated with a 99% average and now she is going to MUN and doing really well. She amazed me!

Karen: Well, we are just new there but we do have a little one – one of our younger students – and she wasn’t passing anything and she was so upset over it. After a couple of months, with small achievements, she passed her first test with a 60%. She was so excited when she came in. She was beaming. She just couldn’t believe it. She hugged her teacher. She just couldn’t believe she had passed her first test. It was great to see. Of course, she received one of our awards that month.

Now as for our Little Learners! They are so cute. We’ve had them come in and I don’t know who is crying more – the mom or the child. They are attached to the mom’s leg or neck and we have taken them and sent the mom away crying. I can honestly say, within a few minutes, with the mom out of sight, the child is settled in and having a ball. A couple of classes later Mom comes in expecting the same thing and the child gets down and runs to class with mom saying, “Do I get a kiss? Or a goodbye? Anything?” and the child couldn’t care less. They have gone to the classroom. They don’t want mom anymore. It is the little things like that that makes it nice to see the child grow.

One of my favourites, I think, with the Little Learners – I had a child who was with me – a little girl and she had a brother who was only one when she started. She started at the age of three. Once he started talking, every time he came in to drop off his sister, he started taking off his coat and would say, “Miss Karen, I go school?” I heard that for about a year and a half and even when I met him outside the Academy he would say the same thing to me. Now he is a little graduate and in kindergarten, and we have his baby brother on the list for when he turns three.

Karen: Well, I would like the parents to know that we are here for their child or student. And we want to help them overcome their struggles, fill in the missing gaps, and build a strong foundation on which they can not only grow and reach their educational goals, but also build their self-confidence and independence. That is what is going to help prepare them for their future and create many successes for them, moving forward, in all areas of life. My teachers are just as passionate about working with their students as I am, and they are there to make sure that they achieve success.

We want students out there to achieve anything and everything that they want, and the best way to do that is with extra practise, and that’s what we offer, along with the guidance of qualified tutors. I know that with time and commitment, any child can succeed in anything that they do, and we want to be right alongside them, helping them do exactly that. We really look forward to working with the children of the future and helping their families.