South Eugene HS

Interact Community Tutoring Program 

What is the specific activity or project?
The Rotary Interact Community Tutoring Program is a virtual, free tutoring program for local students in grades K-8 by high school Interactors. The program provides support in subjects ranging from math and science to reading and writing to foreign languages.  Tutors receive volunteer hours in exchange for their weekly tutoring and average 2-4 hours per week (depending on how many students they are tutoring).

Why was it particularly meaningful and/or fun for your club to do?
This activity brought our whole club together under a common initiative. We have been able to help over 55 local students per year and doubled our club membership through recruiting new tutors!  The program is extremely easy to run and be involved in and is a great source of fulfilling weekly volunteer hours.

How easy or difficult was it to plan and implement? scale of 1-5 with 1=easy, 5=difficult
This program is about a 4 on difficulty to implement and it takes consistent commitment from the student program leader(s). At the start of the program, you will need to be willing to recruit new tutors and reach out to local schools to spread the news of the program’s launch. After this the difficulty gets easier as it’s just about matching students to tutors and ensuring you recruit enough tutors for the number of students.

How many active and engaged people does it take to be successful?
It takes at least 1 actively engaged person to lead the program. We highly recommend an additional 1-2 people to help manage the program’s tasks, mainly at the start when launching. After this, it is fairly manageable for just one person committing 3-4 hours weekly.

Does it require funding or additional resources to launch?  to continue?
This program is entirely free to run and manage. There are pre-made resources to launch and lead this program that will be provided to any interested clubs and leaders.

Tips and lessons learned?
Recruit tutors first before launching the program so that you’re ready for when students do sign up. In some cases, you may need to develop a waitlist for students (which is the best problem to have) so no need to worry. Just start recruiting new tutors and communicate this status to parents – they are always extremely understanding. Also, adjust the program offerings to what your tutors are interested in. If no one wants to tutor foreign languages, don’t offer them.  It’s customizable!

Are you willing to provide any resources (templates, timelines, samples, etc.) to help other clubs?
Yes, contact Walker Sheidow at 843-898-0018 (Call/Text) or at wsheidow@gmail.com for the resources and more information.