Tutoring for Success

“Education is like food and shelter. It is considered basic to one's life. While food is for health and shelter for the body, education is for the mind. Education enhances one's knowledge and as the saying goes; Knowledge is Power. Education is the only means to unite a country, a people as nation. This is to say that education is a must if a nation aspires to achieve growth and development and more importantly sustain it. The importance of education cannot be neglected by any nation.”
Ruth Gala

Local students are failing at school

Students can struggle academically for many different reasons and if students in difficulty do not receive the support they need to improve their grades, they may be at risk of failing or dropping out of school.

In Toronto, a disproportionately high number of black youth and newcomer students are receiving low grades, failing classes, and dropping out. One study showed that in 2006, school dropout rates among Caribbean youth were 40%, compared with 23% for Canadian-born students.

Tutoring for Success

The personal, economic, and social costs of academic underachievement are high and Tropicana has been working since 1998 to help students who are most at risk. Every Saturday throughout October to May, dedicated volunteers in the Increase Your Success program provide up to 80 students aged 6 to 18 with the assistance and motivation they need for academic success.

“We work with the students on their academics and we also talk to them about life … and it is really wonderful to see these students gain their confidence, to see their personalities come out, and to see their grades go up. That’s the reason I keep coming back year after year, because I feel like I’m making a difference in the lives of young people.”
Volunteer Tutor

The Increase Your Success tutoring program offers children and youth the opportunity to:

• Focus on the building blocks of education, English & Math
• Develop leadership and academic skills
• Build and reinforce positive self-esteem and self-confidence
• Learn effective study techniques and time management

You can Help Struggling Students

“Education is helping the child realize his potentialities.”
Eric Fromm

Your donation of $150 to Tutoring for Success will enable a child at risk of failing or dropping out of school to attend the Increase Your Success program for one academic year.

Your donation of $500 to Tutoring for Success will enable us to purchase new textbooks for all grade levels.

If you would like to donate a monthly amount by VISA or MasterCard, please call us at 416 439-9009 ext. 230.

For other donation methods, please click here.

All donations made before December 2010 are eligible for a 2010 charitable tax receipt.

Thank you for your support.

“It is with great gratitude and appreciation that I thank Tropicana for all the services they have provided to my family. When the kids arrived from Guyana, their level of education at that time was nothing compared to the level required of them here. My younger son, at age 8, could not recognize the letters of the alphabet or read a single word. This was very heartbreaking for me to watch my son struggle with basic reading. My older son, eleven years old at the time, was weak in mathematics and English and lacked self-motivation. On my sister’s advice, I enrolled them in Tropicana’s tutoring program. Today, my youngest son is a confident kid who is fluent in reading and enjoys reading. He even read a passage on national television during Tropicana’s Black History celebrations. My older son is comfortable in class with his peers and even volunteered for Tropicana’s food drive. They have both also experienced Camp Tropicana and have grown tremendously from Tropicana’s programs. On behalf of their aunts and parents, I want to express our thanks to the Facilitator and hard-working tutors for all their help. Keep up the good work.”
Parent