In middle school, Armonie Fox had a mentor who showed up for her. Now she’s that person for her students, and she’s seeing what they can do when someone believes in them.
When Armonie Fox started tutoring with Saga at Digital Harbor High School in Baltimore City in August, one of her students barely spoke. The student was more comfortable speaking in Spanish than in English, and opening up during math lessons took time.
Then, during a lesson on two-step equations, the student shot up and said she wanted to answer. She gave the answer and walked through exactly how she got there. “I was just so proud of her,” Armonie said. “She volunteers to answer questions now.”
Moments like that are why Armonie pushes back on a common assumption about students who struggle in math: that they can’t pay attention, don’t understand, or aren’t smart.
“A lot of my students who may say they struggle with math, they do really good,” she said. “They’re very smart, and they pick up stuff really quickly.” In a busy classroom of 30, it’s easy for students to get distracted by everything happening around them. “People see them as kids who are not good at math, and it just may not be the thing,” she said. “It just may be their circumstance.”
Someone who showed up
Armonie knows what the right support can do because she had it. In middle school, she had a tutor who became more of a mentor, helping with schoolwork and being there when big things happened in her life. “She really made a deep impact on me,” Armonie said.
Now she wants to pass that on, “as somebody who could still be there to help them in their life, even if it’s just with school work.” For the past two years, she has also mentored Baltimore high schoolers through another nonprofit, Thread.
The math came naturally. It’s been her favorite subject since middle school. “I was the kid who would ask the teacher for extra homework,” she said. She started college as a computer science major before switching to sociology and is now in her final year at Morgan State University.
Small groups, real relationships
Armonie works with three students at a time, and the same students each session. Sessions open with a quick icebreaker, like a favorite emoji or song, then move into the day’s content and end with a math game when there’s time. She checks in weekly with classroom teachers to learn what students are working on and where they need extra help.
The small groups let her see what a teacher responsible for 30 students might not have time to notice. “I get to learn their personalities,” she said, including what upsets them and “what things to say to them or do that will make them happy.”
One student she has worked with since day one was reserved at first. She had to call on him to get him to participate. Now, “he’d be the first to volunteer to read,” she said. “It’s really nice to see, starting from where we were to where we are now.”
A new path
Armonie once planned to become a lawyer. Now she’s thinking about teaching. She’s also learned she has more patience than she ever expected.
“Tutoring matters because it makes children more confident in themselves,” she said.
Help more students show what they can do
Every student deserves the chance to reach their potential. With a tutor who sees what they’re capable of and shows up for them, students like Armonie’s are showing what they can do.
Help Saga Change the Equation so more students succeed.