Alexandra (10th grade) wanted to help her younger schoolmates adapt more easily to the requirements of Avenor International High School. Thus, she created a tutoring programme in which she and other student-teachers offer extra hours to students who wish to work overtime. We invite you to find out more about Alexandra’s scholarship project from the following interview.
Avenor College: Tell us about your project: what was the initial idea and how did you think of putting it into practice?
Alexandra: I’ve always wanted to volunteer, coordinate such a project and help people. Unfortunately, due to the epidemic, I could not fulfill my wish. So, with the help of Mrs. Luminița Susanu, coordinator of the scholarship programme, I adapted the volunteering project and turned it into a tutoring programme.
At the beginning of the IGCSE course in 9th grade, I wasn’t sure where to begin. I wasn’t sure how I should organise myself and what expectations I should have for this course. I feel that these things could have been overcome with the guidance of a person closer to my age, who has had a similar experience. That’s why I decided to give this opportunity to those who are at the beginning of the journey.
Avenor College: Where are you with your project now?
Alexandra.: The project is constantly evolving. At the moment we are a total of five student-teachers offering extra hours for two 9th graders. In total we have seven active hours per week. Each class, student-teachers identify gaps in classmates’ knowledge in different subjects and work on additional exercises based on the lesson of the day.
Avenor College: What are the next steps?
Alexandra: In the coming weeks, we will resume recruiting students so that we can offer our help to as many younger students as possible. Next year we want to gather more student-teachers in order to extend the programme to middle school classes, respectively to 8th grade.
Avenor College: What did you find most difficult about this project?
Alexandra: The most difficult thing was to succeed in attracting students to the project. Some students may have considered that they will not find any use for extra study time, but those who are part of the programme at this time have only words of praise for the classes and students who tutor them.
Avenor College: What surprised you about working on this project?
Alexandra: Alexandra: It surprised me how quickly the volunteers I recruited mobilised. Everyone complied with their tasks, there were no delays and it all went smoothly. 🙂
Avenor College: What did you find out about yourself, as a team, working on this project?
Alexandra: Myself, together with the team of volunteers, discovered that things can go “smooth” as long as everyone respects their schedule and responsibilities. In addition, we got closer as a team and became friends at the same time.
Avenor College: What are the main benefits of your project to the Avenor community?
Alexandra: In addition to helping younger colleagues, I believe that this programme brings together students from different years, having the opportunity to get to know each other better and discover new perspectives.
