A teacher with a passion! - Original owner, Beth Siebens, MA Educational Therapy, a Learning Disability Specialist, realized early in her career that working with a student individually leads to far greater academic success than working in a group setting. As an educator, she saw that in giving a student all of her attention, she was able to immediately pick up on areas of weakness or lack of understanding, tailor the pace of the instruction, and make modifications and reinforcements as needed. As a result of this, Beth took her valuable classroom teaching experiences (in both the general & gifted populations) and focused on special education. Here she was able to give the attention she felt all students deserve. It was also in this arena that she developed a new passion......empowering struggling students. Beth worked with Learning Disabled and struggling adults for 27 years in the Adult Basic Education Dept. at the College of DuPage. Still feeling very strongly about the need for one-to-one teaching, Beth took over the ownership of ESGE in addition to her work at the college. In addition to tutoring, she offered diagnostic testing to evaluate learning problems, and consultations and advocacy for parents of young students and adult students.
What about the parents? Beth says, "I feel so badly for parents of struggling students. After years of the emotional stress of dealing with a struggling child, they have to jump so many hurdles for help and support. First, there’s the process of evaluation through the public schools. There is quite a bit of initial testing for the child and interviews, for the parents. After the testing is completed, parents must go to a meeting with 10-12 professionals who have worked with and/or tested their child to find out the results and outcome of the testing. After the wait through all the testing (which can take up to 2 months), they end up looking at test results they can't really read or understand, while listening to an educational jargon they can’t comprehend. Dealing with a struggling child is emotionally challenging, but having to add all of these things to the mix creates so much unnecessary stress for parents. I try to help put parents at ease, by reviewing test results with them and explaining student strengths, weaknesses, and needs before they go to the meeting. It's perfectly acceptable, and legal to obtain copies of the testing prior to the meeting, and doing so gives parents a better understanding of the fact that they are just as important in determining the need for special services as every other professional at the meeting. Eliminating the feeling of intimidation frees parents to fully participate in the process."
Look at us grow! - Over the years, ESGE has grown by leaps and bounds. What began as an “idyllic dream,” in Beth’s mind has become a reality. Today, ESGE has approximately 25 tutors each tutoring in their own area of expertise. ESGE offers tutoring for all ages from preschool through adult., and quite a broad range of backgrounds amongst the tutors. ESGE grew out of their old location in the Citibank building, in downtown Glen Ellyn, and moved to a larger office located at 364 Pennsylvania Avenue in Glen Ellyn.
ESGE is now incorporated and owned by Megan Burke and Erinn Cox. Megan and Erinn have tutored and worked with Beth at ESGE for many years. With a passion for education and commitment to all students, they will continue to grow ESGE following the original philosophy established by Beth.
Megan Burke, Bachelor of Science in special education from Bradley University, will work as the mini course coordinator for ESGE. She will also schedule students for private ACT and SAT tutoring. She taught full time for five years and has been tutoring for nine.
Erinn Cox, Masters in Education from the University of Cincinnati, will work as the tutor coordinator for ESGE. Through talking with parents and students she is dedicated to placing students with a tutor tailored to meet individual learning styles. Erinn says, "This is a wonderful way to work with families and help students make strong academic gains. I believe in our philosophy that one student and one tutor is a recipe for success, and I am very happy to be a part of it."