We like to think of Auburn Adventist Academy (AAA) as a family, but the true heart of the students was felt recently as more than 45 volunteered to give their time to a newly organized peer-tutor program led by Brian Kittleson, vice principal. When asked why they were so willing to spend all the hours necessary to both be trained and then to actually tutor fellow students, the volunteers unanimously answered, "We just want to help out our friends."
Every school has students who struggle. Every class has students with shaky grades. But not every school has such a family environment and such strong student leadership as Auburn.
The tutor program is a rather recent addition to Auburn's campus life. Sponsored by World Book Encyclopedia, this academic opportunity is actually a program called Tutor Link, in which the school invested last year and excitedly launched in early November 2003. For the more than 20 students who are being tutored, the payoffs have not always been immediate, but the positive habits and long-term benefits are obvious.
The system was started with help from some active community volunteers, Barb Hawkinson and Greg McKown, and its continued success must be attributed to the dedicated teachers, Judy Toop and Stacy Tomlinson, who have devoted countless hours to the task of organizing and supervising the many student participants. "It's a huge success," says Kittleson. "It has run very smoothly—thanks to some very talented teachers and extremely generous students."
English Teacher Stacy Tomlinson and students involved in the tutor program use this classroom for tutoring.
