Greer High students for the general education classes may sign up to take Peer Tutoring as an elective course. Peer Tutors provide instruction under the guidance of the Transition Program staff, but that's not all. Peer Tutors also support and encourage the students in the transition program to try something challenging each day.
Peer tutors are trained in the areas of;
- Ensuring the safety of both the students and peer tutors while in the community
- Modifying a lesson or providing various levels of support based on the individual needs of each student during the lesson
- Enhancing the social skills of each student
- Giving specific and timely feedback to enhance learning
- Recording progress notes based on student performance for use in planning future instruction
Peer tutors have described the course as extremely rewarding and eye-opening. They have shared that they are no longer intimidated by the students’ disabilities, but learn they are more alike than different. Many enduring friendships begin in the peer tutoring class.
Peer Tutoring at Greer High School
Peer Tutors at Greer High School work on an individual basis with students in our transition program teaching how to live, work and recreate independently in our Greer community. Peer Tutors instruct these students with moderate mental disabilities in the following areas:
1. Apartment Living
2. Community Based Instruction
3. Supported Employment Training
4. Social Skills
5. Special Olympics
Program history
John Mauldin began his teaching career in 1975 for Greenville County Schools at Hughes Academy. In 1984, he transferred to Greer High School. Mauldin’s passion to teach independent living skills to his students with disabilities caused him to view the entire school and Greer community as his classroom. What began as one teenager’s refuge from boring study hall grew into a plan to include students from the general population in the delivery of individualized instruction. The Peer tutoring program was born and nurtured by John Mauldin from its infancy into the nationally recognized model we still use today.
Structure
Greer High School juniors and seniors can select Peer tutoring as an elective course where they are able to earn one unit of credit towards graduation. Applicants are screened through rigorous academic and disciplinary criteria in order to be admitted to the program. Peer tutors receive three weeks of training at the start of the school year on how to interact with individuals with disabilities. They are also taught how to execute an individual lesson plan and document the students’ performance in a consistent manner, providing detailed feedback to both the student and the teacher. Peer tutoring has become a powerful vehicle for producing growth in the lives of our transition students.
4,729 Number of hours peer tutors spent with our students after school last year alone
563 Number of phone calls our students received from peer tutors last year
42 Number of peer tutors in our program last year
1 And it all starts with a single peer tutor