Good rapport essential to learning

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Paige Barren, eight-year-old daughter of David and Tammy Dorsey hard at work. Photo by Don White
Good Rapport tutor, Tamara Gosser Bell, is shown in her office, which is doubles as one of three classrooms at the education center. Photo by Don White
Good Rapport Tutoring is housed in a historic structure built in 1869 at 95 Ohio Street in Somerset. Photo by Don White

November 29, 2011

Somerset tutoring center building “kid skills for life.”

By Don White Commonwealth Journal The Commonwealth Journal Tue Nov 29, 2011, 07:38 AM EST

Somerset — Having good rapport between students, teachers, and parents is essential to learning, according to Tamara Gosser Bell.

“That’s why I call my place ‘Good Rapport Tutoring,” says the owner/operator of the unique and eye-catching business at 95 Ohio Street.

“My job is to boost confidence. Students have to believe in me, and we must have good, open lines of communication. Once I get their confidence up, I can bring them up.

“I first started doing this at the kitchen table of my home when I lived on Summit Drive, then at my home behind Northern Middle School,” says the Somerset High graduate of the class of ‘77.

“When I bought this house, the idea was to get it out of my home, but I live upstairs here now due to current circumstances,” notes the twice-divorced mother of one daughter.

The three-story, bright yellow structure sitting high atop a bank provides the perfect location for a history lesson.

Once home to a prominent Somerset physician, Dr. Ogden, the structure built in 1869, has housed members of the Tibbals family, operators of Tibbals Drug Store in downtown Somerset.

But much more than history has been taught here over the past three years by Bell and her staff of three certified teachers.

Currently, more than 40 one-hour sessions are booked Monday through Friday between 3:30 and 9 p.m.

Students in grades K through 12 can receive assistance with reading, math, writing, science, and ACT prep.

Cost is $35 per session.

Becoming a tutor grew out of a request from the parent of a dyslexic child when Bell was a fourth grade teacher in the Pulaski County School System.

Two years later, mainly through word-of-mouth advertising, she found herself with 17 students.

Most often, the tutoring sessions have come at the end of a long day of public school teaching, says Bell, noting she may be one of the few people who have taught at every school in the county.

She served as a substitute teacher for many years after obtaining degrees from Eastern Kentucky University when she was 35. Prior to that, she had been employed at Latham Trucking for a decade.

While in high school, she served as the Somerset High representative on the Watson Department Store Teen Board, modeling and taking part in fashion shows with students from all other schools in the county.

One of her first jobs out of high school was serving as secretary to Sam Isaacs at First & Farmers Bank.

While rearing her daughter, Laura Danelle Latham, now 25, the grandmother of one began teaching in the Homebound Program in 1999, a job that continued until this year.

The energetic lady has also served as a teacher in the Migrant Program since 1994.

“Many of my students are children of farm laborers who have fallen behind in their studies.

“I often spend a lot of time searching for them and have taught on a blanket under a shade tree, and in homes without running water.”

Bell has taken a break from subbing while overseeing the remodeling of her home and business, but plans to return this winter.

“Subbing helps me keep up with the latest trends in education.”

The daughter of the late R.V. Gosser, who retired from Crane Company, and Joyce Poynter Baker, 69, of Barnesburg, grew up in her dad’s childhood home next door to West Somerset Baptist Church.

She credits her parents and several excellent teachers with instilling in her a passion for learning.

“I became an honor roll student, because if I got a “C,” I was grounded until I brought it up.

“I tell parents, it’s not just the child, it’s me and you when it comes to improvement.

“My students always make the honor roll after they’re here for awhile, and I expect my long-term students to get a free ride to college.”

Bell lists among her favorite teachers Joanna Sewell, her middle school English instructor, second grade teacher Elva Jones, and Marie Gosser, her teacher in third grade.

“Being nice and always showing patience” are among the most remembered and appreciated attributes.

Besides teaching, Bell has a passion for decorating, and is patiently awaiting the day when she can open a tea room and crafts store in addition to her tutoring venture.

“It will be called “Rabbit Town” and will be in my old home at West Somerset after I get the house remodeled in the next year or two.”

A combination of old and new items will be offered for sale, many of which she has picked up at yard sales over the years.

One of the most unique offerings will be the opportunity for little girls to rent from a wide array of dresses one to wear to tea parties at the shop.

Shoes may be optional.

At Good Rapport Tutoring, shoes must be left at the front door as a way of reducing noise and maintenance.

“That’s my favorite part of the job here,” says Bell.

“I don’t have to wear shoes.”

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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