Six Caribou High School students recently completed a tutor training in preparation for becoming peer tutors for the upcoming 2011-12 school year. Three of these students will be available for one period during each school day to help students in need and the others will be available after school on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Contributed photo
These Caribou High School students, who recently completed a tutor training course, will be available one period during the school day and after school on Mondays and Wednesdays to assist their peers in the Caribou High School Transition Center. Peer tutors are, from left: Corlyn Cavender, Tiffany Bishop, Kody Theriault, Kayla Cormier, Quriosity Garcia and Victoria Degenhardt.
The peer tutoring program came about as a result of frequent requests made by students for more one-on-one tutoring at Caribou High School’s Transitions Center. The Transitions Center has been offering tutoring services to students throughout the school day for the past seven years.
Cherie Black, coordinator of the Transitions Center, stated, “When we moved the center from its original location near the tech center to a more central location near the main office, our tutoring sessions increased by about 30 percent. On some days, it’s been more than our professional tutors could handle. Due to the economic decline, we couldn’t hire more tutors. Peer tutoring was a good solution.”
Last year, two students, junior Kayla Cormier and sophomore Corlyn Cavender, agreed to undertake a pilot peer tutoring program. They completed a brief training consisting of three modules; then as they tutored students throughout the year, they provided input regarding what information seemed helpful and what was still needed. Their contributions combined with ideas from the SPARK Peer Tutoring Handbook and Training Manual helped to determine the schedule and topics of a recent Aug. 9 and 10 training.
“I’m looking forward to this year,” stated Black. “These students had such insights into the tutoring relationship as well as the strategies that would work in a variety of situations. This program is going to enhance the community of Caribou High School.”
