![Isabella Arzeno tutors a middle school student. Isabella Arzeno tutors a middle school student.](https://scripps.ucsd.edu/sites/scripps.ucsd.edu/files/basic-page/field-collections/field-body-images-and-text/2018/IMG_7215-crop-1.jpg)
The volunteers soon switched gears and began working with teachers, parents, and social workers at the nearby Rosa Parks Elementary School to offer free tutoring services to the school’s most at-risk students, ranging from first- to fifth-graders. After some trial and error, the tutors found the most convenient location to host the weekend sessions was the nearby City Heights/Weingart Branch Library, the busiest city library for public computer usage in San Diego. During the one-hour sessions, tutors work with students on homework and help them gain proficiency in reading, writing, math, and language.
Dohner said that one big challenge for the tutors is that a lot of the students are greatly mismatched between their age, their grade, and their reading/comprehension level.
“The way we approach tutoring is to get a sense of the student and what they're interested in, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and kind of go from there rather than really viewing it in the context of their level in class and where they need to be,” said Dohner.
Now considered an official UC San Diego student organization, the Rosa Parks Tutoring Program has 23 volunteers, who together tutored a total of 235 hours in the 2017-2018 academic year. The organizers hope to attract more students so they can further expand their reach. Any graduate student at UC San Diego can apply to become a tutor with the program by contacting RPTPatUCSD@gmail.com.
Reflecting upon her work with the tutoring program, Arzeno said she’s inspired by the students but she’s motivated even more by the parents.
“They care a lot about giving their kids a better life,” said Arzeno. “To be able to offer a service like this, to interact with parents, interact with the kids, to let them know that we're on their side, it’s really important for me because I know that they can make it. They just need that little push to beat the odds against them.”
– Brittany Hook
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