Gunkel helps plant seeds of knowledge

Al Gunkel plays an important role at Fallbrook’s Valley View Learning Center, sponsored by Mentoring Associates. He volunteers his time as a tutor for many children enrolled in this special program.

Before Gunkel helped out as a tutor, he led a rather interesting life helping people. He served and protected his county in the Marine Corps. “I spent 20 years in the Marine Corps,” he said.

Following his retirement from the service, Gunkel decided to remain in California. “I liked the area, and I know a good thing when I see it,” he said, chuckling.

After the Marine Corps, Gunkel followed a different career path. He became a high school teacher in San Diego County.

“I taught social studies for about 10 years,” he explained.

Always a lover of history, Gunkel claims he was highly motivated and enthusiastic to share the information he had with children.

When Gunkel thinks back to being a kid years ago, he remembers how much he enjoyed school activities. His favorite subjects were literature and English.

“I was an avid reader,” said Gunkel. “My teacher once told my mother that there probably wasn’t a book in the library that I had not read.”

With a passion for education and teaching, Gunkel accepted an invitation from Mentoring Associates founder Jerry Donohue to tutor at Valley View Learning Center three years ago.

The Valley View Learning Center offers free tutoring programs in an English-speaking environment for children ranging in age from kindergarten to high school.

According to Gunkel, Valley View Learning Center primarily helps Latino students who reside in and near the Valley View Mobile Home Park on Alturas Road.

“Jerry Donohue is doing a great thing,” said Gunkel. “We are trying to help kids get ahead while trying to interest them in education.”

Gunkel tutors about once a week. He helps children in subjects ranging from algebra and chemistry to English and social studies.

“The subjects are different because the kids who come here vary in age,” he said.

The tutoring that Gunkel provides is one-on-one and personalized.

“I think what we do for the children is very worthwhile and I have always admired [Donohue’s] persistence for this program,” said Gunkel.

Interacting with the kids is quite enjoyable for Gunkel and he admits that there is no greater joy than when a student grasps an academic challenge. “That ‘Aha Moment’ makes me feel very good,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Making a child realize he can reach his highest potential is one of the many goals of Valley View Learning Center, he said.

Gunkel is so passionate about this organization that he urges Fallbrook residents to support it in any way that they can.

“It’s so good for our community,” he said. “A child’s education plays a large part in how they will do in adulthood.”

The better children do in scholastics, said Gunkel, the better society will become. And when adults can pull their own weight in this world, he added, it is a very good thing.

To learn more about Valley View Learning Center, call (760) 728-0227.