Former teacher enters into the business of education

It wasn't until Kristin Abelmann quit her job at a public school that she found a place where she felt she could teach like she wanted to. That place was the Sylvan Learning Center, and Abelmann now owns the business, after working there for two years.

Abelmann took ownership of the business on Nov. 1, but she had been working there since the center opened in August of 2005. Sylvan Learning Centers provide individualized tutoring, and the Meredith franchise is one of 1,200 in North America.

"We provide teaching services to fill in the gaps that are making kids struggle and making school miserable for them," Abelmann said. The center offers programs in beginning reading, academic reading, math, study skills, writing, and homework support. In short, the center offers "simple, basic re-mediation" of skills that a student doesn't have, either because of a learning disability or because the student didn't learn the skills in an earlier grade and never caught up.

Abelmann didn't set out to be an entrepreneur, though, she started her professional career as a teacher. She went to school in her home state of Texas, at Sam Houston State University, where she majored in English with an education minor. She moved to New Hampshire after the rest of her family left the Lone Star State, and taught high school English in the Gilford and Inter-Lakes school districts. She quickly became frustrated, though with what she called the "politics" of public schools, saying at times she felt like a glorified baby-sitter.

"No Child Left Behind is on its way of destroying any creativity left to the teacher," she said.

So, when she quit, she answered an ad in the newspaper to become a tutor at the yet-to-open Sylvan Learning Center in Meredith, the same business she now owns.

She said being an entrepreneur and an educator is a huge challenge, but one that she has taken to. Yes, her education as an English major didn't give her the skills to keep her financial records in order, but she's happy to have that burden in place of the politics of the public education industry.

That being said, she has the public school systems to thank for the majority of her clientele. Her center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30, Mondays through Thursdays, for home schoolers, and again in the afternoons for public school students. The center also keeps Saturday hours.

When a parent calls to sign up a student for Sylvan services, the process starts with an entrance test to see where the skill gaps are. The student then receives remedial tutoring at a minimum of four hours per week to address the gaps. During the process, Abelmann serves as a liaison between the parent and the school, coordinating the two educational operations.

The greatest reward, she said, doesn't come from a passed test, but from the increased levels of confidence and self-assurance that her students exhibit when they see that they can be successful learners. "The confidence level increases ten-fold. That's why I bought the place to begin with," she said.

In addition to Abelmann, there are four teachers at the Meredith Sylvan Learning Center, which is located on Maple Street.