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by A. J. McClanahan
Ernest was interested in motorcycles,
but he wasn't very good in math - in fact
he couldn't add. One night, a friend of his
got out the price lists of different
motorcycles and Ernest figured out the
best buys and basic costs of running a
motorcycle.
Ernest's friend, a volunteer for Tutors
of Nebraska Indian Children (TONIC),
had been trying to help him academically,
but had gotten nowhere until that night.
Their friendship probably made Ernest's
accomplishment possible.
Most of the almost 60 other TONIC
volunteers would probably understand
that statement.
"More than helping anybody
academically, we're often the Indian
student's number one confidant," one of
TONIC's steering committee members
said.
TONIC was born in 1969 when a
group of University of Nebraska students
began traveling to the Wennebago
Reservation in northeastern Nebraska
each week to tutor Winnebago Indian
children.
The following spring, another group of
students began tutoring Indian children in
Lincoln. According to the TONIC
handbood, both tutoring groups were
formed at the request of the Indian
communities involved.
Money for TONIC comes from private
foundations, small individual
contributions, and some money comes
from Training Teachers of Teachers,
according to Jim Smith, a counselor for
the College of Arts and Sciences and an
advisor for TONIC. Smith said the
budget is limited and there is always some
doubt about the next year.
The protjram's goals begin with the
friendship between the volunteer and the
student. With this background, the
volunteer can become a source of
assistance with problems the student may
have in school.
"We believe that through indirect,
informal, fun methods we can help
enhance a child's feeling of his own worth
and thus encourage him to stay in
school," says the TONIC handbook.
"One thing a tutor can do" Smith said,
"is give a student the reinforcement he
can't get from a local school because the
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