Potosi School has had tutors for many years. Tutors are high school students who get to choose a class they want to help with. They do various tasks around the school and classroom like making copies, helping students, grading papers, and more. Teachers find tutors to be beneficial as they help with their daily workload. “[It] makes my day so much easier,” said Brett Cummins, the fourth-grade teacher at Potosi.
Delany McKillip, a junior at Potosi High School, has tutored for two years for Melanie Arensdorf, one of the 4-k teachers. She decided to tutor because she loves working with kids. She often makes copies, cuts papers out, and observes the class when she tutors. Delany says her favorite thing about tutoring is that it gives her a chance to relax and not stress about homework. She also says her least favorite thing is that the kids don’t like to listen, which can make it difficult sometimes. Because of that, she said she would like to tutor for a different class eventually to see how different the classes are.
Laura Bartels, another junior at Potosi High School, started tutoring this year in 4th grade for Brett Cummins. She decided to tutor because it was a chance to experience something new. She runs copies, grades papers, makes posters, and helps the students. Laura says she enjoys tutoring because she likes being around kids and it is a fun environment to be in. In her opinion, the worst part of tutoring is the grade and the age of the students. They are independent and she wishes she could work with younger students and be more involved with them.
When Delany and Laura were asked if they were planning on pursuing a career in education in the future, they both said no. Delany wants to go into the medical field and Laura wants to go into business management. They both said that teachers don’t get paid enough and they feel that they wouldn’t be able to handle the teaching environment every day.
Tutors are beneficial in our school. They help lighten the workload of teachers by running copies, grading papers, and helping out. Tutors also can make an impact on younger students by helping them with their homework and being a role model.