Ariella is your typical studious teen. She’s got eclectic music taste and her own hip sense of fashion. She’s a sophomore at Mira Costa High School and she’s currently acing quiz after quiz and test after test in her Algebra II class. Of course, nothing about this is unusual for a student that’s been receiving tutoring from Study Hut for any lengthy amount of time. However, in order to fully appreciate Ariella’s story, we need to go back.
Her story starts all the way back in November of Two Thousand and Ten. Gas was under four dollars per gallon and the young women of Manhattan Beach had found the anthem they’d been waiting for in “California Girls.” It was at this time that I started tutoring Ariella. If you’re thinking that November of 2010 wasn’t that long ago, you’re right. Just four months ago, Ariella was in over her head with imaginary numbers and complex conjugates. She was struggling to keep her head above water and her highest grades would be sung in the key of D.
When a new student starts at Study Hut, all hands are on deck. As tutors we serve as medics on the front line of battle just trying to get the rapid grade hemorrhage under control. For Ariella, this meant we needed to diagnose her issues with Algebra, assess her study habits, and quickly sum up every important math concept up until that point, before we could make further progress. Just a few short weeks after our reoccurring sessions started, Ariella got a C on a math test. Here’s a direct quote from my tutor notes at the time:
“On her last math test, she got a C. This is great, considering she got mostly Ds and Fs before.”
Normally, we aim much higher than Cs at Study Hut. However, this C was a point of celebration for Ariella and I. It marked the turnaround in her math career. The hemorrhage had stopped. Now we could really focus on marching forward; attacking difficult concepts before they became an issue. Ariella stepped up to the challenge.
Cut all the way back to modern day, just three short months since that C, and Ariella just scored a 19 out of 20 on her last quiz and a 47 out of 50 on her last math test. After a series of incremental victories, we’re now celebrating scores that represent an A average in her math class.
I cannot stress enough how great of a turnaround this student has made. Ariella went from feeling like math just “isn’t [her] thing,” to being an expert in the same material. She can condense and expand the most complex of logarithmic equations. She can simplify a radical and solve rational functions without breaking a sweat. She has become the latest example of the time-tested Hut tradition:
Show up and we’ll get you from awful to average. Put in the work and we’ll get you from average to A. Just ask Ariella.
As a parent, you care about the success of your child. If you read any of our posts you will hear about the children that have found inspiration as part of the Study Hut family to live to their fullest potential. What you may not know is that we hire tutors not only because they are from some of the top universities, Columbia, UC Davis, UCLA, USC and UC Berkeley, but we also hire our tutors because of the unique, worldly perspectives they bring to our students. Our tutors are highly sought after medical school candidates. They are people who have traveled all around the world, living in places like Ecuador, Costa Rica, Japan, France, Spain, The Netherlands and West Africa. They are accomplished musicians, teachers, entrepreneurs, environmentalists and engineers. They have not only succeeded in the top educational institutes our country has to offer, but have brought these lessons to fruition through the country and throughout the world.
Many tutoring places offer a number two pencil, practice tests and flash cards. Study Hut offers the inspiration needed to fuel students’ dreams over and beyond the high school classroom. Our tutors still have the memories of college and high school fresh in their minds. We understand where your student is coming from. We understand that learning is an objective that requires us to live both inside and outside a textbook. We understand what they need to be their best. Why do students still come to Study Hut when they aren’t in a tutoring session? Why do you see students smiling when you walk into Study hut? Why do students decide that they want to be here? It’s because we offer more students more than just learning we offer them success.
Life at the Hut has been awfully exciting this week, especially for Rob and SP. Today, March 1, 2011, marks the first official day at Study Hut Tutoring in El Segundo. We are extremely excited about our new office, but with this excitement comes responsibility and a very long task list. We have been working long hours to get the walls and floors looking pretty, make the plants grow, and get some furniture in the shop. Then comes the hard part – finding the best local tutors available. Study Hut is all about, “We’ve had your teachers, and we’ve sat in your classrooms.” And we aren’t abandoning this principle as we grow and experience more success. Rather, we are embracing the reasons for our success, and adding value by improving the services we provide.
At Study Hut, we aim to provide the best possible one-on-one tutoring experience possible. Our team aims to diversify in terms of subject strengths, meaning that we like having a math tutor “expert,” a science tutor “expert,” an English tutor “expert, and so on. With this approach, we are able to cover all necessary subjects, and make sure that we are able to help our students in all subjects across the board.
Another of our huge challenges is finding an awesome SAT tutor. Study Hut prides itself on offering the best SAT tutoring available. We use the premier software in our industry to maximize each student’s efforts, and we only hire successful, intelligent SAT tutors.
There are two types of “New Clients” at Study Hut Tutoring. There are the clients who call us when something has gone wrong, such as a bad test grade or some missing assignments they need help with. The other type of client is the proactive type; this client calls the Hut way in advance, getting times with a tutor well before a big test or Final exam.
These proactive clients often cite “getting an edge” as the reason for calling. Whether they hear about it from a friend at Parras Middle School, or a counselor at RUHS, people are picking up on the buzz, and they are calling Study Hut in Redondo Beach to get the best local tutors available. These clients often call and request a tutor by name, because that is the type of reputation that the Hut has.
Often, groups of friends sign up at the same time. If a PV High Volleyball player calls to inquire about pricing and availability, it does not surprise us at all when two of her fellow Sea Kings call for tutoring later that afternoon. We have quite a few PV and Redondo athletes, including players from the football, basketball, gold, cross country, track, and water polo teams (and more, too!).
One of the most gratifying things about being a tutor at the Study Hut is when students have an “a-ha!” moment. We’ve all had a few of these; when nothing seems to be making sense and then all of a sudden, everything clicks. It’s a great feeling and one I personally enjoy seeing in our hut students.
Mason is a student at Palos Verdes High School and doesn’t particularly enjoy writing essays. He came in one day with an assignment to write about someone who has influenced his life in a positive way. Mason had a lot of great stories about his football coach but couldn’t figure out how to organize all of this overwhelming information into a structured essay. Mason asked, “Why do I have to organize this? It takes away from the fun of writing my story.” When I told him that an essay is a way of convincing the reader of something you believe in, everything clicked. “Ohhh I can totally convince you.” Mason said with a big grin. After I told Mason to tell me why his coach motivates him, not only was Mason listing positive attributes about his coach, but he was also giving me descriptive reasons and examples that helped support his argument.
After he told me everything, we got it down on paper in an outline format. Mason expressed that outlining the essay actually wasn’t as hard as he originally thought. He also even thought it was cool that he was able to write an essay about something that was important in his life.
Whether it’s writing essays, studying for chemistry or working out A.P. calculus problems, students are bound to have many “a-ha!” moments while working with tutors at the Study Hut.
It’s that time again. SAT season! This can be a time of tremendous anxiety for many, but it doesn’t have to be. Here at the Study Hut we work to prepare students for conquering this test. We focus on vanquishing the SAT and getting our students excited about college. Our approach is multifaceted and familiarizes students with the exam. Often our students are most nervous about the math section of the SAT. The Hut provides students with comprehensive materials to dust off older material and reinforce newer concepts. The most important thing is that students are familiar with the structure of the test, especially with the math section. When they know what to expect, students approach the SAT with more confidence and are more successful. We review everything from common denominators to parabolas!
Study Hut tutors will work side-by-side students to get them ready for the next stage of their lives! We will help make this potentially nerve racking time into one of excitement. Many of our students see their scores jump after preparing with us. We have many Redondo High and Palos Verdes High school students in our group course, as well as taking advantage of our one-on-one services. No matter their preference, our approach minimizes the stress and makes SAT prep more manageable. College is just around the corner!
Spring semester is underway at Palos Verdes High School, and for sophomores in the AVID program, this means exposure to a whole new style of testing. As many of us know, the SAT is a very different type of test. Likewise, the PSAT is meant to serve as preliminary exposure to this different testing style for 10th grade students. For most sophomores, the PSAT is the first test they have ever seen in which there is a penalty for guessing incorrectly.
On a typical exam in history class or biology, a student is encouraged to answer each and every question to the best of his or her abilities. Any question the student is unsure about should be guessed at using strategies such as elimination. The same is not true of the SAT and the PSAT – on these tests, students must determine their own confidence level on a given problem, and must answer two questions:
– Is this question worth spending time considering?
– Can I eliminate one or more answers with certainty?
The truth is that most students have tremendous difficulty with answering these questions, which is why so many students need training for the SAT.
PV High AVID students have a huge advantage, then, because they are exposed to this style of test at an earlier age. It gives students more time to adjust to the style and become acclimated to the scoring system. Moreover, these students receive this training for free, as a perk of being part of such a prestigious program, and because of the excellent relationship between Study Hut Tutoring and the Palos Verdes High School AVID program. It is no wonder than dozens of students are turned away from the program each year, and it should come as no surprise that the application process for 8th graders is so competitive.
What began as a modest, experimental finals-season gesture became one of the busiest and most auspicious events that the Study Hut has ever participated in. Early in January, the Hut got in touch with Mary Lou Cordaro, who works with the library at West High School. The Hut volunteered its services for any West students ambitious enough to sign up for extra tutoring on the Friday and Saturday (January 21 and 22) before exams. A few tutors from each of the Hut’s branches signed up to work at “stations” according to subject, which students could move among during the three hours per day that we would be there. We expected a slight crowd, an atmosphere perhaps even casual (or as casual as possible with finals looming ahead). But Mary Lou, one of the most enthusiastic educators we have ever had the privilege to work with, tirelessly promoted the event until the roster had racked up the names of over one hundred students eager for all the help they could get their hands on.
Suddenly, it was all hands on deck. Subject stations were set up throughout the library’s spacious first floor. Textbooks were handed out. The library doors opened like floodgates, and the place was teeming with students. All grades were represented, and for three hours each day the students moved among the tables and classrooms to garner whatever study tips they could. To those students who stayed long, paid attention, and were reluctant to leave even at the two-minute warning, tutors passed out vouchers for free hours of final exam tutoring. Thanks to the students, tutors, and of course, Mary Lou, those were two of the most fruitful days in Hut history. After it was over, many students redeemed their vouchers before their exams, and several of them have begun to stay on for regular help.
Before January 21, while we had been looking forward to the event, we had not expected such bewildering success. It was a great educational experience, not only for the students, but also for the tutors, many of whom had never worked with such large groups before. And it was fun, to boot! As the Hut plans for its future, we are looking forward to many more tutoring opportunities like it. Thank you to the Mary Lou, the tutors, and the students who made this first one so great!
Study Hut Tutoring is proud to announce the opening of its newest location. Study Hut El Segundo will be having its soft opening on Monday, March 7, 2001, at which point students will begin subject tutoring and SAT tutoring as usual.
We already have a small client base that will be starting immediately. These students currently attend El Segundo High School, El Segundo Middle School, Richmond Street School, Center Street Elementary, Arena High School, St. Bernard High School, among other schools.
Study Hut Tutoring El Segundo will be staffed by young, local tutors, fresh out of college. We specialize by subject, and can handle almost any class through the high school level. We can tutor almost every AP class, and we also tutor Loyola Marymount students in select subjects. Finding a good LMU tutor can prove to be difficult, and our students are always ecstatic about the service they receive.
Here are a few of the subjects that we tutor at Study Hut Tutoring:
– Math tutoring: algebra; geometry; trigonometry; pre-calculus; AP Calculus; AP Statistics.
– English tutoring: All levels, K-12th grade, and college.
– Science tutoring: biology; chemistry; physics; marine biology; physiology.
– History tutoring: world history/European history; U.S. history; geography; economics; government
– Spanish tutoring
We also provide one-on-one SAT tutoring in El Segundo, as well as training for the SAT 2s, PSAT, ACT, PLAN, HSPT, COOP, TACHS, and ISEE.
For pre-enrollment and guaranteed placement in a preferred time slot, or for general questions before March, please call our Manhattan Beach office at 310-546-2408, and ask for the owner, Rob. We will add the El Segundo phone number to the website as soon as it becomes available.
If Study Hut isn’t already in your daily vernacular, well – it should be. We’ve been called lifesavers and superheroes, among other superlatives, but we prefer the term tutors. When we are not solving multi-variable polynomial mysteries, we are working hard to make sure our students excel in school.
Hut superstar Kate, a student at Mira Costa High School, is the epitome of a Hut student. Kate comes to the Hut regularly to study, refine and reinforce concepts she is struggling with in her academic classes. Beyond prepping for tests and finishing homework assignments, she is inquisitive about the topics she is learning and asks thought-provoking questions to master the material beyond textbook knowledge. She is never afraid to seek help and is ever ready to do extra practice problems to ingrain these concepts. Her high grades are evidence of her diligence and a testament to our competency and commitment.
The encouraging and nurturing ambiance at Study Hut is vital to the success of students like Kate. We aim to advance and cultivate the students’ desire to learn and grow. By incorporating analogies, interactive videos, worksheets and personal anecdotes into our lesson plans, the tutors are able to provide exciting insight and applicability to the seemingly humdrum topics. I personally enjoy using Math, Biology, Chemistry pick-up lines/jokes to teach the material. While you may not ROFLOL when I ask you `Why did the bear dissolve in water?’ and respond with an enthusiastic `because it was POLAR!’- You will definitely remember the solubility rules of polar compounds. This personal touch catered to the needs of each student is forte of Study Hut. The focused 1-on-1 tutoring, coupled with our unique style, develops these young’uns into self-motivated and hardworking students and avid learners.
