SLAYTON — Robert Ziska admits he's not the best at spelling, but he gets an A+ in math.
Zizka, a Worthington native, took early retirement after 25 years in the financial industry as an investment broker in Mason City, Iowa, around 2016. After moving to Slayton, he spent the next year tutoring fourth through sixth graders in math.
“MathCorps can help students get back on track and really change their trajectory,” Zishka said. “Volunteer work like this is a way to get out of your comfort zone and be a part of something bigger.”
This path has led him to the position he is in today and for the past eight years working part-time as a paraprofessional with Murray County Central Schools.
“When I took early retirement, I wanted to give back in some way,” Ziska said. “My daughter was a teacher in the Minneapolis area, and I wanted to see what the education field was like.”
When Ziska first saw an advertisement for MCC’s local MathCorps chapter, he decided that with his background and skills, he could lend a hand and mentor students in need.
After taking some tests and completing the training, he spent the 2016-2017 school year helping 24 elementary school students complete their math homework using a curriculum specially created by MathCorps. Counting the years, Zizka's fourth-grade class is now in its final year of high school.
Zizka said MathCorps is targeted at students who are a little behind academically — those who are just a little below the grade level specified by their math tests. Students meet with a tutor for 30 minutes three times a week and are paired with others who test at their own level, making learning both competitive and motivating at the same time.
Zizka said nearly all of the 24 students in his class graduated at the academic level they wanted, and students have begun taking tests to get to the level they should be at.
“If I had had this opportunity (to teach MathCorps) when I was in high school, I might have become a teacher,” Zizka said.
The job of a teaching assistant is a little more varied than teaching assigned math classes, but that doesn't mean Zizka doesn't enjoy it. He loves interacting with students and faculty and helping out whenever he can.
Through her volunteer and para-activities, Zizka has participated in MCC's “Reality Check” workshops, which are aimed at high school seniors and simulate what it's like to become an adult, and she also supports the event when she can.
Students are given a fictional situation with details like whether they are married or not, whether they have children, how much they earn, whether they have debt, etc. Students are shown how to pay their bills, how to write checks, if they have savings or investments, how to pay off loans, etc.
Zizka uses his background as a banker to show students how they would or could invest their hypothetical assigned income, whether it be $30,000 or $100,000.
He recognizes that he would never have become a parainstructor or volunteered for the “Reality Check” workshops if he hadn’t first gotten involved with MathCorps.
Part-time and full-time MathCorps positions are available locally, including in Slayton. Instructors are provided a stipend that varies based on the number of hours they volunteer. Scholarship opportunities are also available.
Ziska said positions like these are perfect for high school grads who aren't sure what their next step is or who just want to find out what the world of education is like. For more information about Math Corps, visit serveminnesota.org/program/minnesota-math-corps/.
Hope Moular is the Globe's community editor as of May 2024. Born and raised in Nebraska, Hope earned her bachelor's degree in journalism and communications from Concordia University in Nebraska and previously worked as a general assignment reporter.