Volunteer Club resurrects peer tutoring

A service from the past has been given new life. The Volunteer Club is bringing back the tutoring program that had been offered previously at the high school.

Aastha Chandra, one of the advocates for the club, said, “I thought it would be a great project to prop back up, and garnered a lot of support for the idea when I brought it up at the first Volunteer Club meeting this year.”

This program was offered a few years ago at the high school, but once the members graduated, the tutoring program came to an end. Both Chandra and Linda Peng, another member of the volunteer club, stressed the importance of wanting the program to exist after they graduate. Students teaching students has proven successful in the past, and the club members hope to build upon this.

“It’s extremely beneficial for both the tutor and the student alike: then student is able to get the help they need, and the tutor understands the concept better themselves from explaining it,” Chandra said.

Tutors are required to have experience in the subject. Recruitment is ongoing. Those interested can contact the Volunteer Club to help.

“The tutors are simply students who are willing to tutor,” Peng said.

Group members also asked friends and classmates to recommend other tutors. The program is growing by word of mouth.

One perk of the of the program is that it is quite flexible. The process begins with the student emailing the tutor, and the two setting up a meeting time. For example, Chandra said that 3-3:50 works well for many because it is right after school ends.

“I want this project to be able to connect students to an easy resource and give extra help in classes,” Peng said.

“The tutoring program began last week with the update in the class Schoology pages that includes a quick description and a link to the Google Document with classes and available tutors,” Chandra said.

The project will continue through second semester, and members hope to continue it  into the 2017-2018 school year as well.

“We also wanted the student to be able to take initiative to get help in a way that is simple and informal,” Peng said.

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