Natalie Cox, junior, started tutoring honors biology and regular geometry last year during COVID. 

“It all started when I got the ‘do you want to tutor?’ email during the virtual COVID year,” Cox said. “It was easy enough to sign up, didn’t sound too hard and got me service hours.”

Throughout the next two years, Cox joined the peer-tutoring program to tutor everything from ALARP to regular geometry. Cox said tutoring allows her to see what motivates others to do their work and helps her to learn interaction skills for the future. 

“It causes me to do a lot of introspection, reminding me of what helped me get through a course and what study habits were most helpful,” Cox said. 

Assistant Principal Dr. Julia Spurgeon said, compared to last year, there has been an increase in students participating in the peer tutoring program, with 70 students last year compared to a little more than 80 this year. Math and science are the most popular subjects. 

She said students have the opportunity to meet before or after school this year in the Library and they also can figure out ways to meet virtually from their homes. 

QR codes for people who are interested in being tutored or tutoring, are posted in guidance offices and other areas of the school. 

Karolena Stratmann, junior, is one of the tutees in the peer tutoring program. Stratmann said she decided to seek a tutor because she was struggling with math and had found previous tutors to be helpful.

“The students that are tutoring are very sweet and just want to help you out,” Stratmann said. 

Karol Stratmann, Stratmann’s mother, said her daughter has benefited from tutoring and that it has allowed her to get a better understanding of the subject from a fellow student. 

Mohid Idrees, junior, is Stratmann’s tutor for Algebra 2. “I love having an impact in people’s lives by teaching them, and I’ve found that it’s helped me grow my empathy skills,” Idrees said.

Blake Geisler, senior, who is a teacher aide for Kim Hotze’s German class, decided to tutor because he was passionate about the language. 

He helps students in the class as well as the teacher to create study material and to grade tests and projects. 

Being a teacher aide has taught Geisler about the amount of planning and preparation that goes into a teacher’s day-to-day lessons. Before, he said, he had no idea the amount of effort some teachers would put into lessons. 

“I truly enjoy being a teacher’s aide because it’s a class where I get to help people in a position I was once in,” Geisler said.