President Obama’s nomination to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, is apparently a “heck of a tutor,” in former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s Twitter words.

In fact, according to The Washington Post, Garland has been tutoring Washington, D.C. elementary school children for over 18 years.

Need another reason to support Merrick Garland's nomination to the Super Court? He is a heck of a tutor! https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/03/18/supreme-court-nominee-merrick-garland-has-tutored-these-d-c-schoolkids-for-years/

— Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) March 21, 2016

Every other Monday at 2:30 p.m., the Post says, Garland stops at J.O. Wilson Elementary School to tutor students. For the past several years, he’s been tutoring fifth grader Vernell Garvin, who said Garland helps her get through problems with her math homework.

The White House showcased Garland’s work in schools last weekend in a video that describes how Garland works with the elementary school’s teacher to find a student in-need that he can work with until he or she graduates.

"It’s an enormous thrill to see somebody move from being a hesitant reader to being a good reader, from being a hesitant person working with mathematics to being somebody who is reasonably confident about it, from being hesitant about writing to writing full paragraphs and complete stories,” Garland said in the video, according to the Post.

One of the school’s teachers that works closely with Garland, 29-year-veteran Charlene Wilson, sent a statement to the White House about her reaction to his nomination that the Post obtained.

"I’ll tell you what I appreciate most about this man: He never asks for recognition, or fanfare. He just does what he committed to do. He even convinced some of his staff to volunteer too, so now we have a whole group of volunteers that come down from his office to help,” she said.

"Now that’s character. I think our world would be a much better place if we had more people as committed to the idea of service as Judge Garland.”

Read the full post.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

3/23/2016