The Dixons: A Two Together Family

The Dixon kids have it all planned out: Sade, 15, wants to go to UCLA law school, Ra­sheed, 11, to NYU to become an architect, and Ade, 8, is deter­mined to attend Yale to become a famous engineer.

“My kids love learning, and they know how important it is,” explains their mother Rasheeda Sayyed-Dixon. “The tutoring they’ve had at Two Together has encouraged them to aim high—they feel they can do it, and I know they will.”

The two older Dixon children started at Two Together three years ago when their mom heard about the program from a friend. Sade is dyslexic and her brother also had learning problems, but Mrs. Dixon was determined that her children would not fall behind academically. Ade wanted to be in the Two Together program so much that they took him at 6 ½. All three children have made remarkable progress. Sade, who’s in 9th grade, is now an honor roll student.

Two Together is JCCA’s nationally recognized tutoring program that pairs volunteers—many of them young Wall Streeters—with New York City school children for one-on-one help. A very generous grant from the Robin Hood Foundation not only supports the program for two years, but also has made it pos­sible to expand.

Michelle Cassuto is Ade’s tutor, and has gotten to know all the Dixon children well. Ms. Cassuto, who owns a graphic design business, has been involved with Two Together for over a decade, and, in addition to one-on-one tutoring, has run art workshops for the program.

“Two Together offers kids a sense of confidence in what they can accomplish. It’s definitely about academic growth, but it’s also about the special relationship that evolves between a tutee and his or her tutor,” Ms. Cassuto explains. “I’ve seen all the children grow so much. Sade is a remarkable young woman who has really blossomed, and her brothers are following in her footsteps.”