The DREAM: A San Jose tutoring initiative

In San Jose, a tutoring initiative at the local Baha’i Center is drawing families together. The program, led by Dawn Bastani, a professional tutor, provides free math and language tutoring for children while creating a supportive community for their parents.

Bastani says the tutoring space allows for bonds of friendship and trust to develop organically and for the Baha’i Center to naturally be a place that welcomes all.

When Bastani moved to San Jose in April of 2023, she considered ways to serve her new community. She started with a simple yet powerful idea: to help kids of all backgrounds succeed. The program she envisioned focused on elementary school tutoring, emphasizing the importance of a solid foundation in math and reading for future academic success.

She says it was an uphill process of trial and error. Bastani developed the habit of praying for guidance. “One thing I do every day is [recite] nine ‘Is there any remover of difficulties?’” she says.

To find students Bastani says she elicited help from local schools and put up flyers. But when she candidly shared her vision and goals for a tutoring program on the Nextdoor app she experienced a real breakthrough. This year approximately 20 elementary school kids attended the weekly tutoring space.

Bastani enlisted volunteers from a variety of professional backgrounds to help with the program, including her husband, Babak. JoAnn Rodriguez, a Baha’i from San Jose, volunteers as a tutor every Thursday. Rodriguez says she loves children and spent 15 years teaching children’s classes in the Ruhi Training Institute. Rodriguez didn’t know much about academic tutoring, “But Dawn is really awesome about providing all the materials,” she says. “It’s simplified, making it easier for someone without an educator background to jump in.”

Tutors use lesson packets that include reading materials, practice exercises and educational games. Bastani ensures the curriculum is both fun and effective.

As the children are having their tutoring session the parents have an option to meet in another room with Bastani. It is a popular feature of the program. Many parents attend and talk about topics they would like to study, including how to foster an educational environment at home. “The friendships that are being established amongst the families are amazing,” Rodriguez says.

Khamille Sanjeeper, one mother who found the program through the Next Door app was searching for affordable tutoring for her daughter and was thrilled to find a free service. “The program is not just about tutoring; it’s about creating a community within a community,” Sanjeeper says.

“It’s like a support group where we’ll go around in a circle and share. And it’s been great hearing feedback from other moms,” Sanjeeper says. “I didn’t realize how much I missed community until I was a part of it.” She says her six-year-old daughter has shown improvement in reading and math. “It has been a game-changer.”

Bastani and her team picked a name for the program that reflected what they saw happening there. They dubbed it the DREAM Program, an acronym for Developing Relationships and Empowerment through Academic Mentoring.

During the program’s summer off-months, families picnicked together. “Social events are crucial for our community-building efforts,” Bastani says. “In this relaxed setting, we had the opportunity to connect with the parents on a much deeper level. Real bonds were formed.”

Bastani says the tutoring program has expanded opportunities for sharing the Baha’i Faith and that one family registered their older sons for the upcoming Baha’i youth camp and learned about the junior youth spiritual empowerment program. She says the tutoring effort naturally and organically helped people connect to the Faith.

Many of the families are first generation immigrants and have found a welcoming environment in the DREAM program where they can share their stories and the aspirations they carry for their children.

Regarding the program’s spirit of inclusivity, Sanjeeper noted that as a Black mother, she appreciated being invited to an event for a Juneteenth celebration at the Baha’i Center.

“[Cultural sensitivity] is not something I was expecting in a tutoring group.”

For Sanjeeper, the program served as an introduction to the Baha’i Faith. “I’m someone who came from a deeply Baptist Christian background,” she says. “The way [Dawn] and her team run the program has made me more interested in learning about the Baha’i Faith and its origin.”