SPEAKER (British): I’m so happy with the turnout today
for our tutoring program orientation. Welcome to newcomers and old friends
alike. My name is Cathy Ridgewood, and I’m the Executive Director of Youth
Start Tutoring. We are a non-profit organisation that matches struggling
students with caring, qualified adults who can provide them with a bit of
assistance. In the last 7 years that I’ve served in this role, I’ve never seen
such a massive orientation group, so thank you.
Now, just for your information, this orientation is schedule
to last about an hour, but there will be a 10-minute break halfway through.
There’ll also be a 15-minute question-and-answer session following my talk, so
try and save your questions until then.
MAN (British): Excuse me. Um, it said on your website
that we’ll also have a chance to register as tutors today. So, will that take
place before or after the question-and-answer session?
SPEAKER: Good question. There is a registration
table outside this room, and you can sign up either during the break or after
the talk.
So, let me start by describing the population that our
organisation serves. The youth we work with are between the ages of 9 and 16,
and they all come from inner-city schools. These kids have been referred to us
by their teachers, and their parents bring them in to register for our program.
But parents can’t directly refer their kids…only educators can. Then when the
student comes in, we talk with them both individually and together with their
parents, and assess their needs. A team of our highly qualified educational
consultants looks at their school grades and samples of their old homework
assignments to determine why they are struggling. We use that information to
come up with a tutoring plan to support the student scholastically.
MAN: Do you serve special needs students as
well?
SPEAKER: Unfortunately, we are not able to take
on students with developmental disabilities due to budget restraints. We
instead refer them to two of our partner organisations who have dozens of
tutors trained to work with those clients.
SPEAKER: Uh, so why don’t we talk about what being a volunteer
entails?
MAN: That would be great. I’m really interested, but I’m
just worried that I’ll have to make too much of a time commitment.
SPEAKER: That’s always a concern of potential volunteers, but
don’t worry. You commit as much time as you can afford. Basically, we have
three volunteer options. The first, which requires the least amount of time, is
the “On-Call Tutor” option. On-call tutors are put on a list and called in case
of an emergency, like when a tutor is sick or a student has an urgent deadline.
They do an average of four tutoring hours per month, although that can vary.
Oh, and on-call tutors are supposed to be prepared to tutor students of any age
in any subject. So, if you are a jack-of-all-trades, this is a good fit for
you.
The second option, which is the most
popular, is called “Subject Specialist.” Let’s say that you are really good at
math and want to be able to share your knowledge and love of the subject with
young people. Then you can be a subject specialist and dedicate a minimum of 10
hours per month helping students with math…or whichever subject you prefer. But
you can only choose one. You’ll be working with students of all ages as well,
but only in your specialty area.
MAN: Do we have to prove our abilities in that subject?
SPEAKER: No. We work on a trust system. And if students or
parents complain, we’ll come talk to you.
We have one more option that I want to bring to your attention. And that’s the
“One-on-One Tutor” option. Some of us are good at, and get a lot out of,
developing deeper relationships with one student. So this option gives you that
chance. The tutor is assigned one student, and spends 8 hours per month helping
them with their science, math and social studies homework. Um, but this does
require at least a 6-month commitment.
Um, before we talk about our
organisation’s confidentiality and security policies, why don’t we stop for
questions?