Students in all classes struggle at one point or another, whether that be in math, science, or art. To help these students, Champe implemented Peer Tutoring.
Peer Tutoring is an opportunity for students to get help in their classes. Students who struggle in their classes can seek assistance from peers who excel in those classes. The peer tutors who offered their time to other students would also receive volunteer hours as a benefit.
“It allows students to ask questions they might be afraid to ask in front of the class or to their teacher,” learning lab educator David Madlin said. “It also helps students receive more personalized and one-on-one help compared to what they get in class.”
Held in room 2312, also called the Learning Lab, students from different grade levels are appointed to each block to help their peers. However, even with this opportunity for students, not many students typically come in for help.
“As a peer tutor, I do think this is a good place for other students to reach for help,” sophomore Jiya Patel said. “However as a student, I don’t think I would come in for help, just because I would feel like I didn’t need it.”
(Athulya Pujala)
In a couple of years, Learning Lab has been open for students, and the number of peer tutors and students who use the facility has been on a constant decline. Due to this reason, many of the other opportunities given within the Learning Lab, like Peer Tutoring, have also declined.
“Math Lab was when math teachers would be present in the learning lab to help students in their classes,” Math Analysis teacher Andrea Weaver said. “Not many people used this resource while I was there though, and now it’s not available anymore”
Another opportunity within the learning lab, like the use of Math Lab, was the availability to receive help and feedback on essays students wrote. While this was not a program established by the Learning Lab itself, students used the resources given by the Learning Lab to receive additional help.
“There used to be many students who would come in for help with essays during my time working the Learning Lab,” study hall teacher Vicky Watson said. “Teachers and students would work together on peer-reviewing and editing, and most of the students also helped each other out as well.”
(Athulya Pujala)
Now with both Math and Essay Labs unavailable for students, the learning lab relies solely on peer tutors, causing more measures to be taken for the learning lab to be more active about getting more peer tutors and students.
“We sent out emails, have QR codes posted around the school, and even have advisory presentations all about Peer Tutoring,” Madlin said. “We tried to advertise it more this year to get the word around.”
These efforts still seem to be in vain, as the number of students keeps declining. With the learning lab losing the effectiveness it once had, teachers are trying to find other alternatives to give students the same resources it had with a wider outreach.
“Even if it is not necessary, I take time after school to help my students because there is not a Math Lab anymore,” Weaver said. “It’s just what happens when students don’t tend to use those opportunities, it gets taken away to find other, better ones.”
