“Tutoring program begins Monday” plus 3 more

Tutoring program begins Monday
BBS tutoring added at GEMS
Accidental entrepreneur learns ABCs of success with tutoring business
Tutoring company begins expansion

Posted: 20 Sep 2010 10:04 AM PDT

Full Committed Ministry, through its Community Outreach Program, is beginning a tutoring program Sept. 6.

Ten children will be selected for each of the four categories: K-2nd grade, 3rd-4th grades; 5th-6th grades and 7th-8th grades.

Class times and days vary, depending on the grade of the student. Fridays are set aside for extra help, absentees and special testing.

"Because our aim is to mentor the leaders of tomorrow the criteria for selection of the children will be left to the discretion of the staff," program director Tina Ratliff Boley said. "The children must be manageable, willing to learn and willing to excel.

"We prefer students whose parents take an active interest in their child's education."

There is a minimal fee for the tutoring to cover the cost of supplies and necessities, Boley said.

Space is limited and enrollment is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

For more information, call Boley at 750-1378.

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BBS tutoring added at GEMS

Posted: 20 Sep 2010 06:16 AM PDT

Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) courses no longer have to be a mind game now that tutoring is offered at the Gateways to Engagement, Mastery and Success Center (GEMS).

Focus for GEMS, locat¬ed in the Conference Center, was originally math and science cours¬es, but has widened its scope.

The building is sepa¬rated into different areas of study. The math lab, writing center and newly renovated peer tutoring offices are just a few of the other different loca¬tions.

GEMS now offers tutor¬ing for most BBS courses. GEMS' website said its mis¬sion is to provide opportuni-ties of academic success for undergraduates who seek help in their core classes.

Associate Provost Thom Chensey said due to an increase of students from the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences seeking help the center decided to add BBS tutoring. The cen¬ter offers help with courses such as introduction to psy¬chology, statistical decision making and statistics for psychology.

Chensey said that GEMS overall has been a great suc¬cess and even though BBS tutoring has just kicked off a good number of students have still shown up.

"We start small and if the demand grows we take off from there," Chensey said.

Psychology tutor and senior Valerie Richardson began working as a supplemental instruction lead¬er last semester. Richardson has a broad psychology background and said she made her¬self available when psychology tutor¬ing became avail¬able in GEMS.

"I work diligently and try to explain things in simple terms," Richardson said. "And it helps to be able to relate to the students."

As a newcomer to psychol¬ogy tutoring, international political economy sopho¬more Dunya Taher said she got what she needed out of it and that Richardson was very helpful.

BBS tutoring sessions are in the Conference Center in CN 1.206. For more infor¬mation visit utdallas.edu/ossa/gems

Accidental entrepreneur learns ABCs of success with tutoring business

Posted: 19 Sep 2010 02:53 PM PDT

Ann Dolin became an entrepreneur when her husband put her on an allowance.

It was 1998, and the former Fairfax County public school teacher had just given birth to her first son. She was 29, ambitious and not crazy about living on a $500-a-month handout from her husband for groceries, lunches, diapers, formula and everything else she needed to run a household - including her own discretionary spending.

"That wasn't going to cut it," she said. "I knew I could bring in money through tutoring, and it was something I truly loved."

Dolin, now 41, has a robust tutoring business called Educational Connections that is on pace to gross $1.45 million this year. The Fairfax businesswoman owns an office condominium, employs six staffers and an army of 150 part-time tutors, and has helped 4,000 young people in 11 years.

Dolin pays herself $150,000 a year, but that can grow significantly, depending on profits. Dolin drives a company car, recently published a book called "Homework Made Simple" and earns all the money she needs. Her husband is a salesman for Dell.

"Life is good," said the accidental entrepreneur.

EC serves students throughout Northern Virginia, all of Montgomery County, D.C. and Baltimore, although most are in the Vienna/McLean/Great Falls corridor. The students get help with everything from basic reading to Advanced Placement calculus. Tutoring and helping students develop study skills is 85 percent of Dolin's business. The rest is test preparation and her own consulting.

Students run the gamut, attending such big public high schools as Yorktown High School in Arlington and high-end private schools such as Georgetown Day in the District. A small fraction are college students.

Most of her clients pay $75 an hour, although she recently raised rates for new clients to $80. Dolin's business keeps just over half that amount, and the tutors get the rest.

Dolin has wanted to be a tutor since she was 10, when she started teaching English to a pair of young Korean girls who lived across the street.

Tutoring company begins expansion

Posted: 19 Sep 2010 10:20 PM PDT

Submitted photo. Pictured above are some of the tutors that work for Dallas Peer Tutors. The organization, which was co-founded by Ian Anderson, a senior at Carroll High School � is in more than 25 schools in the Metroplex.

Ian Anderson wants to change the education system in America. Instead of just talking about it, the Carroll High School senior has launched a Metroplex-wide peer tutoring service.

�I think there are so many problems with education,� Anderson said. �So many students fall through the cracks and don�t get the chances they should get. They are not connecting with the information for some reason, and I want to do my part to make sure that doesn�t happen.�

Anderson is one of the co-founders of Dallas Peer Tutors, which officially launched Monday.

The idea was born in 2006 when Vic Ramon, then a senior at Highland Park High School, started Highland Park Tutors. After speaking with Ramon, Anderson started Carroll Tutors last year. They are now taking the service to more than 25 schools across North Texas, with the possibility of additional expansion. As of now, high schools in The Colony, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Carrollton, Coppell, Plano, Allen and Frisco are all taking part in the program.

�We�re excited to bring peer-tutoring to more communities � it�s a truly unique and valuable addition to education,� Ramon said in a press release. �It�s just one of those things that should exist, and we just happen to be the people doing it.�

The program features peer tutors at each of the schools that are serviced. Anderson said one of the advantages of this system is that the tutors are in the same classes as the clients, meaning that they are both familiar with the teachers and the material.

�This program works,� he said. �It is students teaching students. The tutors know how to get an �A� in the class, and that is taught to the client. Once we got our feet underneath us at Carroll, we realized the potential in this business. We saw expansion potential and saw that we had something incredibly powerful.�

Anderson and Ramon spent this past summer interviewing and hiring more than 200 tutors. Tutoring is available for almost all classes, from basic classes such as geometry and Texas history, to advanced college-level classes such as calculus. Scheduling an appointment is as simple as visiting the company�s website and selecting a subject, as well as a date and time for the tutoring.

�It is very simple to book a tutor,� Anderson said. �Once a client logs on to the website and submits a session, it goes to a giant pool of tutors who decide which tutor will handle that appointment. The tutoring happens in the home of the client or another predetermined location. Sessions last about an hour, but double sessions can also be booked.�

The rates for Dallas Peer Tutors are $35 an hour for a one-on-one session, with the price going down to $30 if two or more people will receive tutoring. This is cheaper than some other tutoring companies, which can charge $50 or more per hour and require the purchase of a minimum number of hours. At Dallas Peer Tutors, there is no minimum amount of hours that must be purchased.

�It is not a package deal where you have to buy a certain amount of hours,� Anderson said. �We are also not selling you our curriculum; we are just going over what they are teaching you in school.�

When it comes to changing education in America, this is just the first step for Anderson. After graduation from Carroll, Anderson said he hopes to have a career as an education reform lobbyist.

�I want to make education something that works for everyone, not just some people,� he said. �It seems that each school almost operates as a business, and I don�t think that should happen. A school shouldn�t be so much like a business that students slip through the cracks and no one notices.�

For information or to schedule an appointment, visit www.dallaspeertutors.com.

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Tutoring

Monday, September 20, 2010