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GE’s February
Campus Edition newsletter showcases the partnership between Mohonasen High School and GE volunteers.
Read the full article below.
Everyone knows 1 + 2 = 3, but did you know
GE + Mohonasen = Success?
Each Wednesday, students from Mohonasen High School
come to GE after school for math tutoring with GE volunteers.
“Many times, students ask ‘When am I going
to use this in real life?’” said Heidi Bromley, Director of Mathematics at Mohonasen,
“So when they come here, they meet people who use it everyday.”
Heidi was the driving force in organizing
this program in the spring of 2004 as part of an Elfun event. Now Eric Baker is the GE
coordinator for the program which is part of GE Leaders of Tomorrow
(GELOT). Over 50 percent of the volunteer tutors are GELOT members.
Since 2004, students have been coming for
2 sessions a year – one in the fall and one in the spring – for about 7 weeks at a time
to get help with homework and prepare for Regents exams. Students in grades nine
through 12 at any ability level are welcome to attend and it is completely voluntary.
“They are dedicated,” said Dominick
Werther, who has tutored for two years. “They give up their afternoons to be here.”
“The tutoring helps me understand my
homework better and it’s a great study tool,” said Jessica Iagrossi, a senior who
has been coming to the program since it began, “Sometimes it just helps to hear it
from a different person who has a different point of view.”
Many times the volunteer tutors teach the
students by showing them how math can be applied in everyday life.
“Say we were buying something for $40 and the sales tax
is eight percent. How much would we pay?” asked one tutor.
Eric says the tutors can bring a different
perspective to what they learn in class. “If the student likes shopping, they apply it
to shopping. If the student likes sports, they apply it to sports.”
Heidi said it is very rewarding for the students.
They not only get one-on-one help with their homework, but they also get
contact with engineers and other professionals.
“The kids enjoy it,” said Mohonasen
math teacher Greg Massaroni. “They want to be here.”
It’s not only rewarding for the students.
This is the second year Eric has been a part of the program, and he is getting to
see the students he tutored last year. “It’s gratifying to see their progress.”
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