ALTON – Local kids have a trusted adult, a sense of community, and improved grades thanks to a new tutoring program.
Patricia Brown, a paraprofessional at East Elementary School and founder of Bright Beautiful Minds Tutoring Academy, realized that many of the kids living at Alton Acres and Oakwood Estates would benefit from the educational and social boosts of tutoring. She started her own tutoring program to refresh them on basic concepts and help them create a “school family.”
“It’s letting them know that they are important and that we believe in them,” Brown said. “You’re not a product of your environment. You can be whatever you want to be.”
Brown is a commissioner with the Alton Housing Authority. When she learned the Alton Housing Authority was planning to discontinue a tutoring program due to lack of participation, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She knocked on every door, found volunteers, and invited kids from kindergarten through high school to join a daily tutoring program at Oakwood Estates Recreation Center.
The kids came, and Brown began her work. The tutoring program aimed to give them a sense of belonging and help them find trusted adults in school and outside of school. She discovered that not only did the students benefit from the additional education, but it also started to improve their behavior.
“I noticed that many of them don’t have that school family established, and they don’t talk about any trusted adult,” Brown said. “I have to educate them on how to go to school and trust the workers up there, because I haven’t worked with a person throughout the school district that didn’t love children.”
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As the tutoring program took off, Brown decided to take things a step further. She planned a graduation ceremony for the students, along with a tour of Lewis and Clark Community College, to encourage them to start thinking about life after high school.
“I was like, what can I do to make learning fun for them? And the quote came to my mind: Seeing is believing. Right? And then the Lord told me, have them a graduation so that they can see themselves graduating one day,” she said. “What do you want to be when you grow up, and do you know that education is a tool that you need and you can use in order to get out of an environment like this where there’s crime, where there’s drugs, where there’s this, where there’s that? In fact, you can come back and you can help change it.”
Brown believes all adults have a responsibility to help kids realize their potential. As an educator, she takes this to heart and has gone above and beyond to create a tutoring program that meets the kids where they’re at and gives them opportunities to learn, develop community, and grow on a personal level.
She encourages other adults to get involved. She plans to take a break during the month of June, but tutoring will resume at 7:30 a.m. on July 7, 2025, for kids living in Alton Acres and Oakwood Estates. They need people who are willing to provide meals and monetary donations for supplies.
But also, Brown urges people to simply come out, meet the kids, and inspire them. She noted that a fist bump or high-five goes a long way toward reminding the kids that they have people rooting for them. That’s her ultimate goal.
“You have to show a child by example and experience what the world has to offer for them,” she added. “No matter what environment they live in, we all have that same opportunity. That’s what I’m really advocating for.”
For more information about the tutoring program, including how to donate, contact Lisa Brown with the Alton Housing Authority at (618) 465-4269 ext. 11 or lbrown@altonhousing.com.
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