Tutors from churches help Oklahoma City students become Whiz Kids

In 1998, Williams was a first-grader when he joined the Whiz Kids program in its inaugural year at South Walker Church of Christ, where Grove is a member. Grove became Williams' first tutor in the faith-based program that embodies the meaning of partnership.

Through Whiz Kids, a faith-based program, inner-city churches in the Oklahoma City area and their suburban counterparts join to provide free tutoring for children in inner-city schools. The volunteer tutors come from the inner-city churches where the program is housed and the suburban churches that offer their resources to the program. The participating churches are from different parts of the metro area and include many denominations such as Presbyterian, Lutheran and Baptist, as well as nondenominational congregations. The after-school program typically partners inner-city churches with nearby schools.

Masie Bross, Whiz Kids executive director, said the program works on many levels.

She said the success of Williams, now 18, is a prime example.

Williams is a senior at Southeast High School in south Oklahoma City. He said he did not realize the importance of school when he joined Whiz Kids. Then he began meeting with Grove one hour a week at the church, 5217 S Walker. The two read books, and Williams met other children from his neighborhood school who also were involved in the free program. He and many of the students participated in a voluntary 20-minute Bible lesson and snack time.

Williams said he began viewing school in a positive light, and Whiz Kids also provided him a good foundation for his educational future.

"My test scores started going up. I started to read better. I started looking at life different," he said.

Bross said Williams was reading below grade level when he entered the program, and he was reading at the seventh-grade level when he left Whiz Kids after completing fifth grade.