The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Student service donates to charities
WILTON >> A group of Wilton High School honor roll students recently launched the Learning Fund, a new student-run tutoring service that donates most of its proceeds to local organizations.
Of the suggested rate of $30 per hour, 10 percent covers travel costs while the remaining 90 percent is donated to a charity of one’s choice among Kick for Nick, the Best Buddies program at the Wilton Family YMCA, and PAWS animal shelter in Westport.
“We didn’t want to give to big national organizations because sometimes you give and you don’t know what your money is doing,” said Andrew Noonan, founder of the Learning Funding and a junior at Wilton High School.
“I think that it’s also better to be spending $30 for something that you think is important in the town versus spending $120 for somebody else who you don’t know where the money is going to,” added Addie Tanzman, one of 16 student tutors with the Learning Fund and a junior at Wilton High School.
Through the Learning Fund, student tutors offer help with a variety of middle and high school subjects, including foreign language, math, English and other topics. Sessions can include help with homework, test preparation and basic study skills.
Although neither Noonan or Tanzman received tutoring lessons themselves, they said they would have been more prepared for the transitions between different grade levels and schools if they had learned how to develop good study habits earlier on from a peer or older student. “If a teacher couldn’t teach it to them in the first place, and they’re kind of struggling in the subject, then a lot of teachers probably have similar strategies and it might now work for that specific kid,” Noonan said. “But as another student, you can kind of show them what worked for you and other kids.”
In addition, Tanzman said that students shouldn’t view tutoring as a weakness but a strength to their learning and development. “I think it’s important for kids to know that it’s not something you should be embarrassed about to get a tutor, but it’s something that can help you in the long run,” she said.
Appointments can be scheduled through Facebook or at www.studentlearningfund.com/ whether it be for a onetime final exam review or recurring sessions for an extended period of time.
Sessions began earlier in December and will continue throughout the new year. “Down the road, we want to expand, get more involved and connected with the schools,” Noonan said. “And then even farther down the road, once we graduate, we’re hoping to pass it down to the next grades”