Looking Glass volunteer New Roads School teacher Steve Nastasiuk was featured prominently in The Register-Guard on Sunday, February 24th.
Longtime volunteer New Roads School math teacher, Steve Nastasiuk was selected by The Register-Guard and other local community spotlight partners as the Volunteer of the Month in February and featured prominently in an article in the Sunday, February 24th issue. Looking Glass is extremely proud of Steve and so thankful for the work he does with homeless and runaway youth at New Roads School. He is very deserving of this recognition.
Read the full article on the RG website here: https://www.registerguard.com/news/20190224/math-and-story-wizardry
An excerpt:
“I would say that I’m nonjudgmental. I try to relate to them. To what they’re presenting,” Nastasiuk says. “Some of their stories are tough. But I like hearing their stuff and their perspectives. To me that’s a population that needs something. I wanted to be able to be with a population that needed help.”
Three years ago, he began volunteering at the New Roads School, helping students associated with the Eugene 4J School District to improve their math skills enough to earn high-school credit or to earn a GED. He volunteers 32 hours a month, and for his admirable efforts Nastasiuk has been chosen as Volunteer of the Month by The Register-Guard and its partnering community agencies.
“Steve drives about an hour each way from up the McKenzie just to come out here,” says Kirstin London, the director of Runaway and Homeless Youth Services at Looking Glass Community Services. “He has been willing to rearrange his schedule to accommodate students whose day care schedule or so forth means they can’t come in on his tutoring days.”
Nastasiuk goes to such lengths because he knows the importance of these students showing up at New Roads School. “They’re doing well coming here. So it’s usually a positive thing, the fact that they’re here. Even though their stories may be difficult, for the most part they’ve overcome them. Or they’re in the process of overcoming them.”