Wenatchee High School students tutor fellow classmates

The morning announcements at Wenatchee High School are full of useful information for students and staff. One of those helpful notices heard each morning tells about the Homework Center held in the library every day after school. But for the first time at WHS, high school scholars are being paid to tutor other high school students.

These eight tutors started soliciting their services on Nov. 30, getting paid ten dollars an hour. They were selected by WHS Gear Up because of their high academic performances.

“We felt that we wanted to get some student tutors that other students could better connect with,” Gear Up coordinator Felix Guerra said. “We used to go for kids that are in college or people that have college degrees, but sometimes they can be hard to approach when a student is asking for help.”

There are still a few college students available in the library for extra help, but Gear Up is relying mostly on high school aged kids.

“We’ve also found that often tutors are taking those classes with students already, so they know what they’re working on,” said Gear Up coordinator Diana Sanchez. “They know how certain teachers teach, and if a tutor has gone through that class they can help in the same ways that the teacher could.

Sophomore Devon Anderson is one student that decided to become a tutor. “When I heard about it, I thought it would be really cool. I understand how hard classes can be sometimes and I am glad to help,” said Anderson. “Getting paid is a great bonus but what’s really cool is that it comes at no cost to the other students.”

Many of the tutors are glad to give back to the school that has done so much for them. “There’s a lot of things that teachers do for us that sometimes goes unnoticed,” said sophomore Jason Mason. “I thought I could do the same for kids that needed help.”

Mason specializes in biology and geometry, along with chemistry if students need it.

Emily Prieto, a junior at WHS, attends the Homework Center often with her friends to do school work. “My friend, Daisy Zavala, is a tutor after school. She helps me understand the homework a lot better because we take the same classes and go over the same problems,” said Prieto.

Zavala found out about this opportunity through Guerra. “I used to go get help [at the Homework Center] and I ended up helping my friends explain some things too,” said Zavala. “Felix came up to me and said I would make a good tutor so I applied and here I am.”

These services will be available for the rest of the year, with more tutors being added in order to help students with a wide variety of subjects. Guerra and Sanchez hope that hiring more high school students to tutor will bring more light to a great opportunity like the Homework Center and the help that it gives.