Those who know Glenda are surprised to learn that her Oasis Tutoring journey began with some reluctance. She expressed reservations about becoming a tutor because of not having had children of her own and not being terribly comfortable talking in front of people. Her sister, Celena Hyde, another Oasis tutor, knew Glenda would be a perfect candidate to help share the joy of reading with a child in need. “My sister dragged me kicking and screaming to become an Oasis tutor,” Glenda reported with a smile.  She told me, “You’ll be the one constant that some of these children have when you come to see them every week.”  Celena kept encouraging Glenda, “You’ll love it. Just try it once.”  Soon afterwards, Glenda agreed to give it a try.

Reinforced and confident after receiving training, Glenda arrived at Northwest School District’s House Springs Elementary excited about getting started. During her first year, she was assigned three children. Two moved away before the year was out. Glenda was discouraged, but Celena kept telling her it would get better. Later in the school year, she was assigned two more students. “By the end of that year, I was in love!” she says.  That was 14 years ago. Since then, Glenda has worked with more than 40 children as an Oasis tutor. Both she and her sister generally work with four students each year. “If you’re going to be there for an hour and a half, you can just as easily give two hours,” she says. “I decided I was going to try it for one year. Now I wouldn’t give it up for all the money in the world.”  When summer break comes around Glenda misses tutoring her students, but looks forward to the fall when the joy of tutoring starts again.