At the 14th Annual Champs Celebration, presented by Kalsec, Kathy Hogg was honored with a 2021 Champ Award which was sponsored by Abraxas Worldwide. Executive Director James Devers presented the award.
In 2017, when Kathy Hogg retired after forty years as a social worker, her family—knowing her passion for kids—made a bet that she couldn’t keep away from helping them. Fortunately for us, Kathy lost that bet.
Two weeks after she and her husband moved to Kalamazoo, she started volunteering with Communities In Schools. Highly dedicated to students at the Woodward School for Technology and Research, Kathy wanted to deepen her skill set, so she went through specialized training that SLD Read offered to our CIS volunteers.
As an SLD Read tutor, she’s been able to provide individualized, one-to-one, multisensory instruction in reading, writing, and spelling. Over the years, she has continued to provide outstanding support to students that CIS Site Coordinator Jen DeWaele sent her way and follows them from grade to grade.
When schools physically closed fourteen months ago, Kathy immediately connected with Jen to see how she could continue tutoring and supporting students virtually. She made a seemingly effortless transition to online tutoring. Her students were so relieved to see her familiar face in such an uncertain time.
Keenly aware of their need for a sense of normalcy, Kathy has put extra care into providing a rich experience for students, creating weekly packages which Jen delivers to them. Full of educational materials and a few special surprises, these “bag of tricks” as she calls them, are individualized for each student.
This fall, after asking to take on more students, Kathy dove in virtually with two more students she had never met. With her gift for making students comfortable, in no time they were warming up to Kathy and getting to work. They look forward to the two weekly sessions they each have with her.
Jen says this about Kathy: “She has an intuitive way of knowing exactly what each student needs and meets them where they are each day. It’s a joy to see the easy smiles of students as they log on to see their favorite volunteer—someone who believes in them steadfastly, encourages them continuously, and keeps them on track lovingly. She reveals to them their best selves every day.”
Kathy Hogg, thank you for empowering kids to realize their full potential in school and beyond.
Tags: Abraxas Worldwide, Champ Award, CIS, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo, Jen DeWaele, Kalsec, Kathy Hoag, SLD Read, Woodward School for Technology and Research
