27th December 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A report on The Daily Item tells of how tutors from different walks of life, and different backgrounds, are using unique experiences to help the students they tutor. One of the tutors, Robert Barr, received a shock when he arrived at Massachusetts University, because although his Mathematics was good enough for him to achieve a place at the university, he was not strong enough at Maths to handle the demanding work he was set.
Robert graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, and now tutors for 29 hours a week at North Shore Community College. He is keen to help others, so that they don’t struggle in the way that he did. Robert said: “I smile all day. I’ll run into at least three people a day at Stop and Shop or somewhere and they will say ‘Hey, I did great on my exam’ or ‘You really helped me.’”
The centre offers 6,000 tutoring hours in total, using 25 tutors. Another tutor is Ann Firicano, who teaches Italian and Spanish. She lost her husband a few years ago, and almost stumbled across the tutoring scheme, and she feels that it really helped her personally. She says that up until she began tutoring, she wasn’t sure what to do next with her life. Firicano admits that she is a soft touch in the classroom, because she really cares about her students.