ANN ARBOR—What do a church, a Detroit elementary school and the University of Michigan have in common? Recently the three joined forces to improve the school environment for the 1,000 elementary and middle school students at Peter Vetal School in northwest Detroit.

Several years ago, the Rev. Dennis Talbert of nearby Rosedale Park Baptist Church thought that U-M students could work with youngsters at Vetal School. He contacted Barry Checkoway, director of U-M’s Ginsberg Center for Learning Through Community Service, and suggested a meeting with Joseph Trusclair, principal of Peter Vetal, who agreed to begin the planning process.

“To begin the partnership everything needed to be done face to face,” said Mary Beth Damm, assistant director of the Ginsberg Center. “So we visited the teachers during the day.” From that initial visit, U-M’s presence at Vetal has grown to span several University groups.

Today, the activity that draws the most student participants from both Peter Vetal and U-M is K-Grams, a pen pal program which pairs 100 elementary students with U-M buddies. Each pair exchanges eight letters, which according to Damm, “are the only thing that students actually want to write.”

This year’s program ended with Kids Fair, an event hosted by K-Grams in Crisler Arena at U-M as a finale to the letter writing. Pen pals met their University buddies and spent a fun-filled day which included “more art projects than they would ordinarily do the entire year,” Damm says.

Beside the Kids’ Fair, elementary school students visited the U-M campus several times, and Trusclair says that “many of the students don’t get out of the city much,” so having the chance to visit U-M and talk with college students has helped and inspired them. “The visitations expose the youngsters to more than they get on the street, and give them something to shoot for,” he says.

Alice Lloyd Residence Hall students work with the youngsters on a weekly basis to improve their reading skills, and another group of U-M students organized science clubs and meets with the Vetal youngsters.

“The biggest help to the students and teachers is having more human resources to develop the students’ reading skills,” says Damm. Principal Trusclair agrees, saying “improving students’ reading skills is always a top priority for me.”

Working with Trusclair and Vetal teachers, U-M has established an America Reads program in the school, which would bring 10 tutors for four hours each visit, to work one-on-one with students. This program has “absolutely facilitated the most change” says Damm, principally because the tutoring is done twice weekly for two-hour sessions.

Members at U-M’s AmeriCorps program run “Superkids” which works on getting the students excited about learning. Instead of lecturing or reading to the youngsters about science, the AmeriCorps members have organized a field trip to the science museum, and teach “alternative” classes including ethics and character.

Trusclair, Rev. Talbert and Checkoway agree that the U-M visits are rewarding to everyone, and have a reach beyond the classroom. As a result of U-M’s presence in the classroom “parents have stated coming in to help tutor the students,” says Trusclair.

Last year, as a part of a bus tour of Detroit, more than 30 U-M deans and executive officers traveled to Vetal. Rev. Talbert described the experience of the deans’ visit as “eye-opening for both the school and for the University leaders, helping them better understand the needs of an urban community, and seeing how they can better serve them.”

As what Rev. Trusclair describes as one of the very few “faith/University based partnerships anywhere in the world that has combined to serve the undeserved,” the U-M/Vetal partnership has been “win win win,” and is something that is easily replicable.

However, “in order to make a substantial difference in the entire school, more people need to be involved,” says Damm. Vetal has more than 1,000 students and 40 teachers, so U-M volunteers have not been able to effect more than a small percentage of Vetal’s staff and students. “We can still use more volunteers at the school,” says Damm. Her wish: “a full time coordinator to work with the school and U-M.”

EDITORS: For more information contact Youth Pastor Dennis Talbert of the Rosedale Park Baptist Church at (313) 538-1180, Marybeth Damm at the Ginsberg Center (734) 647-7402, Principal Joseph Trusclair of Peter Vetal School at (313) 852-0710.

Related Links:

• Peter Vetal School
• Rosedale Park Baptist Church
• K-Grams
• AmeriCorps