Judge Merrick Garland has been tutoring 2nd graders at Northeast DC elementary school for 21 years

https://www.wusa9.com/article/features/producers-picks/judge-merrick-garland-attorney-general-washington-dc/65-47e0fc16-a85e-4284-be52-52a8df69b791?fbclid=IwAR1nfJTE6aEbymM1VFRVLjhsfdT1l-KC32xMxDcsONewmyjLeG-omW4aSrM

 Author: Bruce Leshan
Published: 8:22 PM EST February 22, 2021
Updated: 12:31 AM EST February 23, 2021

"It goes to show the character of the man," says a D.C. mom whose children have gone from struggling to honor roll since Judge Garland started tutoring them.

He's been nominated for Supreme Court justice and Attorney General, but Judge Merrick Garland's favorite work may be at J.O. Wilson Elementary School in Northeast D.C.

He has tutored children at the school for more than two decades.

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For nearly 22 years, a teacher at JO Wilson Elementary has picked a second grader to work with the judge. "I think that's the longest we've ever had anyone just stick to it," said Charlene Wilburn, a second-grade teacher, in a video released by the White House, when President Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court in 2016.

Garland stays with the child at least until they go off to middle school. "This is an opportunity to affect a child's life," said Garland in the White House video. "This is an enormous opportunity to watch someone go from being a hesitant reader to a good reader."

The judge has recruited dozens of other people at the courthouse to help tutor too. "I think he's very committed to the students and making sure they know there are people in places of power that care about them," said Carolyn Lerner, a mediator at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where Garland is chief judge.


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