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Megan A.
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Need help with one of your subjects? The Peer Tutoring Program may be exactly what you’re looking for! This free program is accessible to any students at GCVI, for most subjects at school. For more information, contact Samuel H. This program, which is run by students for students, initially started as a tutoring program specifically for students in the IB program, according to Samuel H., an executive and trainer for the Peer Tutoring Program. However, “we’ve now seen that there’s a large demand [for tutors] with [non IB] students as well, so we decided to branch out,” he explains.
Tutors are typically senior (grade 11-12) students with a strong understanding of the subjects they tutor. In terms of what tutoring sessions can look like, Ethan B., a grade 12 peer tutor explains that it can look like whatever the tutee needs or wants. “I’ve done an hour, I’ve done like five minutes when they just have a quick couple [of] questions, [it] really just depends on what [a tutee is] looking for.”
However, the tutees are not the only ones gaining something from the Peer Tutoring Program. Samuel H. says he feels like “even if [only] one kid learns something from the stuff that I’m teaching, I’ll feel like I’ve positively impacted the community.” Ethan B admits that although initially university applications were what drew him to tutoring with this program, he’s been able to acquire a lot of deeper insight from tutoring others. In particular, he finds tutoring “really useful for improving your own learning because you reflect on your learning.” He adds that “it helps you understand the way your teachers are teaching you and you become a more effective learner.”
For Goh N., an executive and trainer for the Peer Tutoring Program, he joined this program after gaining informal tutoring experience from helping friends and siblings out with homework. He wanted “to apply [this] experience on a larger scale [across] the school to better help individuals,” which is definitely being accomplished with the Peer Tutoring Program. Additionally, students in the IB program can use this program as a Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) project.
The highest demand for peer tutors usually comes “about a month to two months into a semester, from teachers requesting support for their students… or during midterms and exam seasons”, says Samuel H. If you, or someone you know, would like to receive academic support from the Peer Tutoring Program, their Google Classroom code is 7DLSRSUF. Beat the exam season rush and sign up now!