Seine et Marne. Le Phare guides children with learning difficulties in Moncourt

A castle tower just for her and 7 fully equipped classrooms on several levels: The Lighthouse Association is more than an institution in Moncourt-Fromonville (Seine-et-Marne), and it well deserves this nice gift from the city, which provides one of the outbuildings of the town hall. Because the mission is more than important: “The light of knowledge is symbolized by the lighthouse”, summarizes Frédéric Noury, teacher at the Bezout high school and volunteer at the association.

Also for adults

And it’s been going on for 20 years. At the time, the founder Roger Meunier decided to set up a homework assistance structure for children having difficulties. Two decades later, the mission of the association remains relevant, and the needs remain immense: “In addition to help with homework for primary and secondary school, we do refresher courses for adults with a view to passing an exam. We also offer conversation classes in foreign languages, ”explains President Isabelle Guerbois.

The method has not changed in twenty years: a weekly meeting with a volunteer for one hour, up to three subjects. And if the Lighthouse was running at full speed with 100 beneficiaries before the Covid, the health crisis put a hell of a halt: “We could not decently hold the service during the confinements. We reimbursed the contributions, but despite this gesture, many families no longer entrusted their children to us”, regrets the president.

Bring something when the parents are poor

Fewer students… and fewer volunteers too, who are now around twenty to take turns, from Monday to Saturday: “We are constantly looking for volunteers for all levels. The more we have, the more children we will be able to accept, because we live only on contributions”.

If the profile of teachers is of course the most sought after, “anyone who has an interesting school curriculum, or who can contribute something through their professional background, can come and help us. We have students, for example, who join us“. Mobilized volunteers, happy to belong to this real family: “I’ve been at the Lighthouse for five years, and I find fulfillment there,” says Frédéric. It is a way for me to be useful by broadening my teaching skills”.

The association, which was declared of general interest last June, is keen to stay up to date and innovate. Thus, the association has built its own educational tools for dyslexic children: “It’s a very long job, we are setting up tools with speech therapists. We try to provide something when the parents are destitute”, specifies the president.

The association, which shines throughout the south of Seine-et-Marne, is keen to play this “warning role. Parents do not always know that their child’s difficulties are not only academic. Le Phare, which definitely lives up to its name, has every intention of continuing to guide those who need it for a long time to come.

Info on the website www.association-le-phare-com, tel: 01 64 29 21 53 or 06 80 77 88 61.

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