By Chris Bavender
The Carmel Sylvan Center may have a new location and look, but the mission remains the same: help students be the best they can be.
“We want to be a resource for the community, not just a ‘unique tutoring service.’ When I first bought Sylvan 20 plus years ago it was looked on as negative thing if you had to go there,” owner Kent Kolbow said. “Now there are a lot of schools and libraries who do STEM programs, and we are building partnerships because we all have the same goal in mind, to have successful kids.”
The Carmel center at 1400 S. Guilford Rd. is approximately 3,000 square feet. A move to a new building was easier, Kolbow said, than trying to rewire an existing location for updated technology. The center is set up with instructional rooms with no more than three students per teacher.
“Three on one works best because it give students time to do stuff on their own but then they can also work as a group,” Kolbow said. “We don’t allow parents to force their kids to come here. We want them to want to be here. Instead of fighting with mom and dad at home at the table trying to do homework, they can come here. Sometimes you just can’t teach your own kids.”
As part of the grand opening of the Carmel center, a drawing was held to provide a lifetime of Sylvan services to one student. Kindergartner Noah Fitzgerald was the lucky recipient.
Noah’s mom, Lori, said she’s thankful her son will be able to continue his educational development through Sylvan through high school graduation.
“This is an education system that we believe in,” she said. “We can’t express how grateful we are to be awarded with such a wonderful gift for our son.”
Kolbow, a math and physics teacher by trade, spends about 15 hours a week teaching at a Sylvan Center in his hometown of South Bend.
“There are probably very few owners who also teach. My wife jokes that there isn’t one time that we go out in public that someone doesn’t come up and tell me how well they are doing,” he said. “When you see kids who are happy about learning, that is why I do it.”
