By Leilani England
The Scene staff
You could call it an “act of kindness” or a “helping hand.”
Kim Hallemann, manager of Forest Park Academic Success and Tutoring, started spring semester by tacking pairs of gloves on a bulletin board and inviting students, faculty and staff to take them for free.
“I thought of it during winter break,” said Hallemann, 53. “… I always try to think of ways to fulfill students’ needs.”
Hallemann’s creativity also comes in handy when she’s promoting the tutoring center and its free services. She has used everything from candy to Ramen noodles to attract students’ attention.
“Need gloves?” read a sign that Hallemann posted on the bulletin board this semester. “Keep warm and get free tutoring.”
Hallemann is a former middle-school teacher. She knows that young people, even those who are serious about their schoolwork, like to have fun.
In January, Hallemann bought several pairs of colorful, but inexpensive gloves for the bulletin board, which is outside the tutoring center in the Forest Park library building.
The gloves quickly disappeared, helping students, faculty and staff avoid frostbite in cold weather.
To Hallemann’s surprise, more gloves showed up on the bulletin board one day. They had been purchased by radiology student Kyle Hahn, 21.
“I saw they had really nice gloves on the board, and I thought it was a good idea,” he said. “Then I saw that they were all gone, and I thought, ‘Uh-oh, that’s not good,’ and I bought my own gloves and put them up there.
“People need gloves and it’s cold outside. I had the extra money and not many expenses.”
Between 25 and 30 students, faculty and staff have taken gloves from the bulletin board this semester.
In a few cases, positive feedback made its way back to Hallemann.
“I thought that it was great,” said Aaron Shelton, 55, a work-study employee in the Access Office, who took a pair of lightweight gloves on a day when his own heavy gloves were too warm and bulky.
“They all disappeared except for one. Everyone is out there with warm hands.”