Being tutor of the month, Travis Tredway dedicates his time and knowledge to other students, who need it.
By Patricia Ortiz-Corona
Frustration, a sense of loss, and a desire to understand may all be feelings that someone who is struggling in a certain subject may feel.
Monday thru Friday in the cafeteria, the National Honor Society has a tutoring program from 3:20 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Anybody can go and receive help from any of the three tutors that are there. Of course different tutors are there on different days.
One example of an NHS tutor is junior Travis Tredway who is NHS’s tutor of the month. He tutors about an hour and thirty minutes at least twice a week. Senior Traci Longanecker also tutors for NHS. Junior Monica Renteria and her sister senior Alejandra Renteria are also NHS tutors but they also tutor at the Plymouth Public Library as well as in their church.
Those that are being tutored are not the only ones who are having trouble. Tutors also face multiple challenges when it comes to tutoring. One example of a challenge that can surface is explained by Tredway who states that, “the most challenging part [about being a tutor] has been to explain the concepts in a way that made sense to others.” While this may be the most frequent challenge for a tutor there is another one and that is simply finding time. A. Renteria explains that her biggest challenge is to find time to tutor in between finishing schoolwork, having a job, and volunteering at her church. M. Renteria who also tutors younger children states that her biggest obstacle is to keep the children interested and willing to learn. She must motivate them to want to learn and keep the experience fun yet still educational.
Though it may seem that tutoring has many challenges it can be a very spectacular experience. Longanecker states that her best experience as a tutor has been helping a junior girl because she, “is such a nice person to work with because she really cares about her school work.” A. Renteria states that her most rewarding experience has been when the children that she tutors are able to, “understand what they read and be able to write a summary of what they read.”
The best advice that Tredway gives to anyone who wants to tutor is to, “Do it. It doesn’t only benefit others but oneself as well.”
On the other side of the story are the people getting tutored. Sophomore Scott Masson needed help with Spanish. He explains that tutoring really helped him explain many things that he was having trouble with and he claims that as he, “went more and more my grade improved and I was getting better, I still am.”
Tutors really are there to help students who are having a hard time understand a subject. Often there is no time to thank that tutor for all the work that they do in order to help. Masson would really like to tell his tutor, “Thanks for helping me and giving me the time to help me understand and improve in my subject.”
Tutors can often influence the students they tutor in a positive way. Masson states that, “My tutor has given me the extra confidence that made me know that I can still do good in Spanish.”