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Alex Misiaszek '21 and Noah Wohlstadter '21
Student tutoring is an indispensable program at St. Albans that not only helps younger students achieve academic success, but also fosters a sense of community. Especially during this period of distance learning, it is crucial to form connections within our student body to preserve the brotherhood that is so pivotal to the St. Albans experience. Students are more likely to welcome advice from their peers than they are from their parents or teachers. When your teacher assigns an extra problem set before a test, you might complain about how they’re being unfair and how they don’t respect the fact that you have a life instead of actually finishing the problem set. When your mom yells at you from upstairs to get an early start on your essay that’s due at the end of the week, you might just ignore her. But, when a peer suggests doing extra problems or being proactive about major assignments because it worked for him, you miraculously manage to get your essay in early and do every extra review problem in the back of your textbook for the three tests you have on Friday. This plug for the effectiveness of student tutoring may seem a little trite, and in reality, it probably is. However, it’s truer than you might expect––we know through our own experience of having peer tutors. No, we don’t miraculously get all of our essays in early and do extra practice for each of our tests, all while managing to get to bed by 9:30 p.m. every night. But, we have learned invaluable tips for how to study and how to manage the time we have more effectively, all from having peer tutors. The same advice that sounded absurd coming from the adults in our lives sounded perfectly reasonable coming from our peers: that’s why peer tutoring can be so effective. As leaders of the Student Tutoring program this year, our job is to connect students that want to be tutored with those willing to take time out of their day to help mentor and guide their peers. This tutoring community we foster enables a strong sense of camaraderie throughout the entire Upper School. With seniors getting to know freshman and friendships being formed between grades, the tutoring network is quite tight. Many tutees also realize how impactful their tutor was to them as an underclassman, so they join the program as a tutor when they are an upperclassman to try to impart this same impact on a peer as a way to give back. We encourage anyone and everyone to become a part of this community. You don’t have to sign up to become a tutor or to get tutored: all you have to do is be willing to help people and reach out to others. When you pass by someone in the library and you see them struggling on a problem, ask if they could use a hand. Don’t be afraid to look outside of your friend group for support because you might just find a life-long friend within the tutoring community who leaves a lasting impact on your life. If you know anyone who could use some extra help, refer them to this article to convince them that Student Tutoring is worthwhile, and if you know someone who would be a great tutor, refer them to this article as well. We promise that being a part of the tutoring community, whether on the side of the tutor or the tutee, will be an extremely fulfilling experience that you will cherish for a long time. Sign up to be tutored or to be a tutor here! |