Tutor News – August  2020

Schools in San Carlos and Redwood City have begun the year in full Distance Learning (DL). This means there will be no students on campus for classes until San Mateo County has met the criteria set by the state. Naturally, all of us are disappointed that we are unable to tutor in-person. To ensure everyone’s safety, Healthy Cities Tutoring decided to operate this year in a Remote Tutoring model. 

Although the school year will be unlike any other and tutoring will be different, we remain dedicated to working with you, our tutors, parents, and teachers to help students succeed

in school. In response to students struggle to learn last spring, schools have retooled their approach and teachers received extra training to support their students in this new learning mode. Still, now more than ever, students in our program will need our help. We are also projecting an increase in demand as students who were unable to thrive in the spring are identified by their new teachers.

Thank you to those who already reached out to let us know you are eager to get started on tutoring again this year. While the coronavirus prevented us from meeting with our students in-person last spring, we are immensely grateful for the 70+ tutors who helped us pilot “remote tutoring” and many more of you that checked-in with your students.

While challenging at times, many of you successfully tutored remotely and discovered that with our support, parent engagement, and tutor training it could be effective and have an impact. It is our goal to provide support and training to all our tutors who are comfortable trying this new method. Please read below for information about upcoming training and ways you can volunteer for Healthy Cities Tutoring. 

We understand some of you may not know if you are able to tutor a student remotely – that is ok! Please complete this survey and one of us will follow-up with you as directed.

COVID-19 has changed many things, but our mission remains the same – to help students achieve academic success and enhanced self-esteem through the relationship and support they receive from you, our amazing tutors.

Wishing you good health!

– Your Friends at HCT

(Pictured below, from left to right: Bridget Schum, Emily McLuhan, Janelle Gibson, JR Bae, Karen Molinari, Cynthia Wiggin, SaskiaTeerink, Raquel Seifert)

Remote Tutoring – How You Can Volunteer!

We recognize that remote tutoring is not ideal for all and academics may take a back seat

for a while (while everyone adjusts). Please know that what is truly important at this time

is simply engaging with your student. Showing up and connecting with them makes a big difference. Many tutors found shorter check-in sessions twice a week effective. Our staff is here to help and provide you with the tools and training to make it work! We have workshops scheduled in September, October, and November; with the first on September 15, click here to learn more. 

Timing: We are rolling this out slowly to give students and their families, teachers and school staff, time to adjust to the new DL model and get to know each other. In mid September, we will prioritize re-matching students and tutors who participated in Spring Remote Tutoring, followed by those who have indicated they are ready to restart this fall, and then move on

to new matches. 

In the meantime, we’ve surveyed tutors and parents to know who is able get started and

how we can best help. If you don’t think you received a tutor survey please go here to fill

it out now. 

We appreciate your patience as we work through launching Remote Tutoring this year. Please feel free to reach out to us at any time with questions or challenges.

We look forward to matching you with a student this year and are truly thankful for your commitment to make a difference in a child’s life through Healthy Cities Tutoring.

Mark Your Calendars – Upcoming Training!

Volunteer Appreciation Event

It was great to see so many familiar faces at our Volunteer Recognition Reception. Our virtual event was held over Zoom this year and even though we all missed being together it was a touching and heartwarming event.

San Carlos Mayor, Ron Collins, helped us kick off the evening and we heard from several tutors and their tutees as they shared how tutoring worked for them over Zoom. We honored those who have contributed greatly to HCT by tutoring for 5, 10, 15 and 20 years. And celebrated our tutors who are high school seniors and won a scholarship from HCT, congratulations to Eimon Amjadi, Maria Casique, Emma Holland, Maya Litvak, Ethan Mayoss, Amy Ruiz, Jordan Schwartz and Kelsey Sennet. We wish all of our graduating high schools seniors the best of luck.

Did you miss the event or just want to watch it again? Click here. 

Thank you to all our volunteers! A very special thanks to Barbara Madden, who has been volunteering with us for 20 years and changing countless lives in the process. Also, a huge thank you to Yvette Royce for 15 years of service; Jo Benson and Gregory Gee for 10 years of service. Healthy Cities Tutoring could not do this without you!

Check your inbox!

Remote Tutoring Survey: You should have received a survey about your interest in remote tutoring in the fall. Please be sure to let us know if this is something you would like to try or need more information on – we are here to help!