Always a need

Rick Lumpp has no shortage of students. The former 5th and 6th grade public school teacher has operated a non-profit private tutoring service for over 10 years in downtown Winchester called All Ways Learning. His ministry is the only Christian, donation-based tutoring service in Virginia.

For years he charged $40 per hour (for-profit companies today typically charge much more). Often people whose children were in desperate need of help would come in and think they had found "an answer to prayer," he said. "But then I would tell them what it cost, and you could just see the air go out of their sails."

"When the economy went south, I felt like I needed to do something to help students and prospective students who couldn't afford [the fee]. So I went to donation-based," Lumpp said.

That was three years ago. "We're full of people with limited financial resources. That's why we're full," he said. "If I could live off gratefulness I'd be fat and happy." But he can't, and a dip in donations is making it tough to survive. Still, "God has been gracious in providing all that we need," Lumpp said.

Lumpp offers tutoring in math, language arts, history, government, economics, and science for both home schooled and public schooled students. He currently tutors 21 students in his facility and 20 students online.

Lumpp gave his service the name All Ways Learning to denote two meanings. The name is derived in part from Proverbs 3:5-6, "…In all your ways…." Lumpp operates his service with a clear focus toward God: "We're a Christian organization. Most of what we do here is influenced by Christian faith."

The name All Ways Learning also points to Lumpp's methods, which he adjusts according to the needs of the student. He uses a language arts curriculum called Responses to Literature that he developed with a fellow teacher. It emphasizes learning grammar and spelling through reading and responsive writing. He also developed Crossline Therapy, a method he developed specifically for students with learning challenges.

Lumpp, who is a former elementary school teacher, began tutoring because of learning challenges. "We adopted some children with special needs and felt their needs would be better served at home," Lumpp said, where they could get more individual attention. He soon discovered many other parents had similar needs and opened a tutoring service.

Lumpp has seen incredible results. Several of his students came to him as special education students. After tutoring, the students were enrolled in general education. One of his students "came in 3rd or 4th grade as a special education student, graduated with honors, and is now a teacher," Lumpp said. "We have several success stories like that."

All three of LeAnn Wakeman's children have received tutoring from Lumpp. "My oldest started with an auditory learning disorder that [Lumpp] was able to completely correct," Wakeman said. "She now desires to write."

Wakeman also saw beneficial results in the writing and spelling skills of her other two students through Lumpp's Responses to Literature curriculum. "It caused them to improve in deductive reasoning and critical thinking," she said.

"He's a very compassionate individual - very in-tune with students, with what motivates them," Wakeman said. "He is truly invested in the progress of students and desires to see the potential God created in them."

Lumpp jokes about expanding to Hawaii for his retirement, but for now "This is where God wants me to be," he said. "I will do something like this as long as I'm able. There's always a need for it."