Libertyville High School provides many different ways for students to access academic help. One of the less recognized ways for students to get help is through student tutors.

Student tutors can often be found in the library. They are available and willing to assist other students who request help. This aid includes support in core academic classes such as math, literature and science, along with help on assignments and studying for tests.

“As a student tutor, you meet with students who might be struggling and need help in classes and aid them in any way,” senior and student tutor Lyn George said. “You can ask them questions and try to improve their understanding on what they’re struggling with.”

Some student tutors are more specialized and help students in a specific class, and others help students with subjects in general. One example of a specialized student tutor is senior Ahan Dey, who assists teaching computer science teacher Ms. Teresa Elmore’s Advanced Placement Computer Science. A class during a study hall specifically allocated for this purpose.

“Because I’m in that class, students, when they need help, can raise their hands and I can help them the way that any normal teacher would,” Dey said. “I can also assist during lessons with the teaching material and explaining things to students.”

This style of tutoring is effective because it provides students with help during a class, which helps students who are stuck or struggling in the middle of a class and may not be able to ask a teacher for help.

For students who don’t have a student tutor in their classroom, they can always see one outside of class during their lunch period or study hall at the MASH.

Additionally, student tutoring helps both the student in need of support and the tutor providing assistance. Student tutors can gain new skill sets from tutoring.

“To me, being a student tutor [is] connecting with the students in my community and trying to help people do better,” George said. “It’s definitely shown me a different way of learning, and I think I’ve also gotten something out of it. Learning to teach people other than yourself can be helpful.”

Overall, student tutors have a positive impact on the students they work with and also gain benefits they didn’t initially expect to gain from being a tutor. The work student tutors do definitely pays off.