California State PTA gratefully acknowledges Deutsche Bank for its generous support of this section

Programs That Work: Students for Success

It’s 4 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon, and the place is buzzing. Kids, free from the confines of the classroom at last, are taking an opportunity to get together with their friends to hang out and participate in the latest, coolest thing on campus…studying in the school library.

If you’re on the campus of Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, that is exactly where the kids are. Monday through Thursday, from 2 to 5 p.m., the school’s library is a packed house and a hub of studious activity.

That is because the Students for Success Tutoring Club is in full swing.

Students for Success (SFS) is an after-school peer tutoring club that is a collaborative effort between PTSA and the National Honor Society at Fremont High School. This program is supported by parents and staff.

On a drop-in basis, this program offers free tutoring to any Fremont High School student during seventh period and after school. Tutoring is available in all key subjects, including math (from algebra to calculus), literature, social studies, science (biology, chemistry and physics) and modern languages (Spanish, Chinese, French, and Japanese).

National Honor Society students provide the tutoring, and because of the diversity of cultures and languages at Fremont, tutoring can be provided in several different languages. Supervision and oversight is provided by a combination of parent volunteers and paid staff.

The Role of the Student Tutors

The National Honor Society Students at Fremont are earning a big chunk of their community service hours right on campus by being peer tutors. They are trained at the beginning of the school year on how to become better tutors.

Many of these students have found that they enjoy teaching. Tutoring helps these students with their own studying; by having to explain a subject matter, they are reinforcing their own learning. Tutors have gained valuable life skills in addition to community service hours. They have improved their communication skills, strengthened their self-confidence, learned to practice patience and humility, and, most of all, they have experienced the joy of giving.

The Role of the Parents

Program coordinator and parent volunteer, Julie Darwish, explains how parents can help, calling it “giving out M&Ms.”

“At Students for Success, the parents pass out several kinds of M&Ms:
Monitoring – ‘Please put away the playing cards.’ Motivating – ‘Come on, get your homework out; you have to do it anyway, why not get it over with now?’ Mentoring – ‘I notice you like history. What do you want to study in college?’ Money (yes, money) – ‘Did you know that we have a random drawing this week for $20? You have to be present to win!’ and Mothering – ‘Looks like you had a bad day, tell me about it.’ ”

Julie encourages parents who think they can’t help kids with their homework to be a part of this program as well. “The students are doing most of the tutoring. Don’t you think most parents can find a few M&Ms in their pocket?” she asks.

Positive Effects

Even though SFS has been in existence for only two years, everyone on campus would agree that it has had a major impact on the students and on the school’s culture. A lot of the students used to try very hard to hide the fact that they cared about their grades, that they liked to read, or needed help with their studies.

SFS has altered the need to hide in a very short time. It also provides a place for those who simply need a positive environment to go after school. It is now “cool” to do homework. There is an indescribable feeling of hope and astonishment when a teacher hears a student urging her friends to sign up and raise their grades.