BYU student and TOPS's lead program director Alexa Mattingley positively reflected on her time at Y-Serve's TOPS program before she graduated in December.
Mattingley has been with the program since her second semester at BYU. The TOPS program, short for Tutor Outreach in Provo Schools, is a Y-serve program that connects BYU students with elementary and middle school students around the Provo school district. Its website lists multiple subject options to tutor in including reading, math, robotics and Chinese immersion.
Mattingley first learned about the program her freshman year when she was eating lunch at the Wilkinson Student Center and saw one of their booths.
“I had always loved teaching, and I could tell it was something to do with teaching,” Mattingley said. “I asked them what they did, and I ended up signing up for their e-mail list.”
She started volunteering for them the next semester. In her first year working with students, she started in a sixth-grade classroom.
The students were learning about writing, using PowerPoint presentations as a medium to share their writing.
Mattingley said she would give them tips on how to present, such as speaking with a louder voice and making eye contact with their audience. She would also read them the first drafts of short stories they wrote and gave them feedback.
“I typically like working with older kids because it's less of teaching the fundamentals and more of fine-tuning their skills,” Mattingley said.
The next year, she volunteered in a kindergarten class. This was not her first choice, but it was the only class that fit in her schedule. She ended up loving it.
“The kindergarteners just have this invigoration about them where they're so excited to learn and they're so excited to impress you,” Mattingley said. “They also want to show you that they are smart.”
Every student that she worked with — regardless of what level they were at — had unique talents and abilities.
Mattingley said the students' curiosity also impressed her. She said she felt like people start to lose that as they get older.
“We get less excited to learn because we get more down about the activities or the assignments we have to do, but the kindergarteners were just so excited about learning,” Mattingley said.
She ended up liking teaching kindergarten more than sixth grade, which she did not expect.
Mattingley became involved with the TOPS leadership when they sent out an email looking for new leaders.
“I like working with people and I love TOPS, so I figured I would just apply,” Mattingley said.
She was interviewed and then became a program director.
When the lead program director before her was going to graduate, Mattingley said she asked the program directors if any of them would be interested in being lead program director.
Mattingley said she was interested in that position. After she was interviewed, she became the next lead program director.
She thought it was going to be stressful, but said it ended up being fun and rewarding.
“I love organizing service projects, and I love meeting people and so those are all things that have been just right at the tip of my fingers as lead program director,” Mattingley said.
Since Mattingley graduated in December, the Y-Serve service council which oversees TOPS appointed Isaac Smith, a junior at BYU and one of the several program directors at TOPS, to take her place.
“I've got big shoes to fill,” Smith said. “I'm very fortunate to have been able to first join TOPS while she was leading it, and now subsequently to work alongside her as a program director and then benefit from her mentoring.”
Sariah Francis, a member of the service council, expects an awesome transition of leadership.
“It'll be awesome, especially because Alexa has been doing a great job with the TOPS program. So, as she trains Isaac, I think it'll be a very smooth transition,” Francis said.
As Mattingley prepares for life after graduation, her big takeaway from TOPS is she always needs to serve.
“Even when I am busy, even when I am graduated, I wanna be able to give back to the community to serve, to use my talents just to help people," Mattingley said
She said she is confident that the TOPS program is going to be in good hands.