Thursday, December 7, 2017

NEED TO STUDY? FIND A BUDDY!

By MEGAN FICO 

As the school year progresses, grades gradually become more of a concern for students at Washingtonville High School.  Classes get harder and students tend to become more stressed out over their increasing workload.  Thankfully, there is a place at WHS where students can alleviate some of these stresses.  With the peer tutoring program run by the school librarian, Mrs. Richardson, students are able to get some extra help in the classes that they struggle in. 

Peer Tutoring is a program where students are able to get tutored by other students close to their own ages.  The goal of this program is to give students a way of getting extra help from a student that has already excelled in that class, rather than a teacher or a paid tutor.  This has been proven to be a successful strategy that increases students’ understanding of material.  According to an article written by the National Education Association, some benefits of peer tutoring “include higher academic achievement, improved relationships with peers, improved personal and social development as well as increased motivation.”

MEGAN FICO FOR THE WIZARD WEEKLY
Peer tutoring is beneficial to both the student and the tutor.  There is an old saying, “To teach is to learn twice.”  This strategy helps students learn from each other no matter what position they are in.  While one student may excel in science, another student may be at the top of his or her English class.  These students can work together to help each other understand difficult concepts and lessons, while reviewing the material themselves.

Jeremy Gutierrez, a senior who attends Washingtonville High School, has been involved in the program since his junior year.  He currently has weekly sessions with his tutor, senior Erin Wilson, who helps him out with precalculus. 

Since joining the program, Jeremy says, “The weekly sessions really help out a lot” and if it weren’t for tutoring, he could have possibly failed one of his classes last year.  His favorite part about the program is that “it’s free,” and both his tutor and Mrs. Richardson work with his schedule so the weekly sessions happen at times that work best for both of them. 

Mrs. Richardson, the school librarian, took charge of the program previously run by the National Honor Society.  She did this so she would be able to know who was involved and when sessions were going on, mainly because they would be taking place in the library and she needed to make sure there was a spot for all students.  Mrs. Richardson says that the program helps the students and she gets “great feedback from teachers of students who participate in the program.”  She also says it especially helps out parents “since the program is free, parents are saving money instead of having to pay a tutor $50 an hour.”

It is relatively easy to get involved in the peer tutoring program, and anyone can join, whether they want to be a tutor or be the one getting tutored.  Students are able to sign up for peer tutoring by either seeing Mrs. Richardson in the school library, or going onto the library website where there are forms to be a tutor or a tutee.  This program is a meaningful way to get community service hours for tutors, and a convenient way for students who need some extra help in a class to get the attention that they deserve. 

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