New initiative recruits volunteer tutors
It's as familiar as the sounds of the coffee maker brewing and the tinny, computer-amplified voices of our colleagues: the ambient noise of children in the background on Zoom calls, sometimes softly hushed, sometimes a blast of, “Can you please just be quiet for five minutes!” but we forgot to mute ourselves first.
During the chaos that was the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Isabel Kalaycioglu heard those sounds while her mother was on conference calls and thought, “I could maybe help with that.”
The Université de Montréal med student was already an experienced tutor, so she launched into action with CARI, the COVID Academic Relief Initiative. She put together a small program and imagined she could run classes for a few days a week. When she posted to Facebook parenting groups that she was available for tutoring sessions, 80 families reached out.
“The first week I had only me and a student friend,” 24-yearold Kalaycioglu said in an interview. She rolled with it, messaging student groups next. Within the week, she had more than 20 volunteers from universities around Montreal who were ready to tutor in English or French. CARI entered the new year with around 280 students and 35 tutors, and Kalaycioglu is recruiting more.
“We find it's basically their experience with kids over their tutoring experience that matters,” she said. “We have students in psychology as well as education.”
The need is great. LEARN Quebec, a non-profit organization that serves children registered within the English school system, has seen 208-per-cent growth since the start of the academic year. LEARN'S virtual campus has been running since 1999 and offers tutoring sessions with certified educators.
“It's business as usual with us,” LEARN spokesperson Carolina Toteda said. They've been growing every year but saw an explosion March 16, the first Monday after Quebec's initial lockdown. They've doubled their pool of educators to 95.
The educators work one-onone with students from grades 2 to 11, so sessions can be deeply personalized. A child struggling with French, for instance, could work with a tutor on such basics as sound structure — which can be difficult for a teacher in a classroom with 20 or 30 kids.
“It's not just for students who are struggling or have special needs,” Toteda said. “We are also there for students who want to get better grades. We keep it practical and engaging, and we have a high success rate.”
Education Minister Jean-François Roberge announced Friday that more free tutoring would be offered to Quebec students by the end of the month and that an app will be launched to allow “young people to have access to numerous resources, testimonials, videos, etc. This initiative, in collaboration with partner organizations, aims to provide psychosocial support and strengthen the safety net necessary for students to reach their full potential.”
LEARN had not received a mandate from the government by Friday evening related to the announcement, but Toteda said they are ready to support the initiative.
Kalaycioglu is confident CARI can continue to grow with demand. When it became obvious that free software could not support her needs, she applied for a federal Risingyouth grant, which she was awarded twice. She plans to register as a non-profit so she can access more grants.
“The kids really seem to enjoy it. I was worried they'd get bored, but I got messages from parents saying their kids were asking about it over the holidays, asking when it would start again.”
There are four to six children in each group, which allows for socialization as well as learning.
“We try to follow with a logical system, how we think the schools would teach” and using the Quebec Education Program as a guide. “We come back to the same topics throughout so they get to practice.”
Core subjects are represented, but so are the arts, cooking and even dance. It's become more than just helping out parents, she said.
“I want to keep it going because the kids appreciate it.”
It's not just for students who are struggling or have special needs. We are also there for students who want to get better grades.