Last year, as finals week swiftly approached, many students struggled to maintain commendable grades due to a lack of understanding of concepts. Even when in-person learning started, students had been in class for significantly less time compared to a normal school year. However, all was not lost as Mira Loma’s after-school tutoring program proved to be a major success.
Because of distance learning, Ms. Gibson, school librarian and director of the after-school tutoring program, urged students whose grades were suffering to seek tutoring, stating, “[After school tutoring] is one way to improve understanding of a subject and grades. We have very good tutors who are here to help.”
Altogether, 380 hours of tutoring were logged, with 18 tutors teaching a total of 23 subjects. This included all levels of math, physics, chemistry, foreign language, and level one of English. Even with courses increasing in difficulty, especially for juniors and seniors, the program allowed students to seek assistance.
A junior who conveyed his frustration about having difficulty with his grades due to the pandemic recalls, “The tutors really are experienced, and helped out. Even if you are on an advanced subject, there are always seniors and others to help out. Throughout the school year, what changed is that I actually had a group to support me every day after school. I feel like this is necessary, especially in a time such as this.”
The impacts of the tutoring program have been significant. Ms. Gibson attributes this to experienced tutors saying, “Students can receive the benefits of a one-on-one situation with a person who really knows the subject in which they are needing help. The tutors must be signed off in their knowledge of the subject by a teacher who has had them in a class and therefore knows their strengths in the subject. I think the MLHS Tutoring Program is unique because I believe it is the only program in SJUSD that has students who are scheduled to tutor other students.”
Additionally, the program has helped students save time. Instead of spending countless hours searching the internet for answers and solutions, students spent one hour per tutoring session.
One student who wishes to remain anonymous says, “After I used the tutoring program, my grades, in reality, did rise. Even though I didn’t want to go to the tutoring program in the first place, once I went, it really did make a remarkable difference. Once I started going, it became a thing for me to enjoy and look forward to. It’s much better to devote some time, and it doesn’t need to be every day. Just a little time went a long way for me and so many others, which is so much better than dreading the upcoming test that I was not prepared for at all.”
It is evident that Ms. Gibson’s strong suggestion to students of all grade levels to visit the after-school tutoring program has proven to be beneficial. As shown through countless students, participation in the tutoring program improved both grades and overall knowledge significantly. An impact such as this at the end of a school year could not be more important, and as a new school year approaches, students should be aware of this instrumental resource.
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