This week marks the beginning of an exciting new service learning initiative: The Peer Tutoring Club. Led by AISB’s Learning Support Team, the group of 9th and 10th graders are now offering extra help for elementary and middle school students, in a variety of subjects.
The 30-60 minute sessions will be monitored by secondary learning support staff and will take place in the Secondary Library on Wednesdays between 11:50am-1pm, or by appointment (details below). Members of the club will be able to offer younger students help in English, math, science, and additional languages, and each session will be tailored to each individual’s specific needs.
The group’s coordinator and head of the secondary school learning support department, Sean Whitney, says he’s especially excited to connect elementary schoolers with secondary students.
“When younger kids connect with older ones, and students care for one another, they’re both motivated in ways that adult teachers cannot always foster.” -Peer Tutoring Club Supervisor, Sean Whitney
Whitney adds that these sessions may supplement adult tutoring nicely, and that parents and teachers should know that “the grade 9 and 10 peer tutors are exceptionally strong, and their sessions are monitored by me and/or staff in secondary learning support.”
Currently, there are eight club members (shown in the featured image, above), but there may be space for more as teachers, parents, and students from elementary and middle school schedule tutoring slots. The program allows students to earn service hours for CAS (Creativity, Action and Service in the DP) and is also an opportunity to have a big impact on our community.
“Peer tutoring has taught me how to work with kids, and how to understand what they need, both academically and emotionally,” says tenth grader Gal O., who tutored a second grader last year. “It really matured me and it also made me better at editing my own work.”
If you’re interested in connecting with a tutor, or are interested in helping other students, email Mr. Whitney at swhitney@goaisb.ro, come to one of the Wednesday open sessions in the library during lunch (the team meets at the projector screen), or complete a referral postcard (below) and submit to a teacher.
