Study Hut Tutoring, led by Sam Prins and Whitney Griffin, gave a sudsy high five to participating students, parents and members of the community this past Friday during the Study Hut’s first ever Fundraising Car Wash for Relay for Life. Study Hut has a team this year aptly dubbed “I’m Too Sexy for My Hut.” The team has been putting together impromptu philanthropic events in order to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The Study Hut team is proud to donate to the American Cancer Society because we all know someone that has been affected by cancer. What a better way than to throw a car wash the week of: “People were really fired up and stoked…one lady tipped us 20 bucks and that really gave us a lot of energy to go out and wash more cars on a sunny day to raise money for Study Hut Tutoring’s Relay for Life team.” Exclaimed as jazzed up and freshly misted Study Hut friend of the family Natalie “the blond” (From far away, the mist from the water bouncing off the hood of the car created almost a Golden shower with her blonde hair) “How can you not love Tutoring at Study Hut, raising money for Study Hut’s Relay for life Team, and having a great day in the Sun?!” Each tutor was more fired up than the next as each of the tutor team members meticulously scrubbed a quarter panel. “The Team effort at Study Hut is sensational today…you can easily tell that the tutors like working here when they are coming to pitch in on their day off.” The tutors at Study Hut are working diligently on and off the dance floor, arriving early and staying late, because it’s clear that not only is that a motto at the Manhattan Beach Study Hut, but a lifestyle. When asked about this cool style of dominating at work, John Lopatto, future opthomolgist, declared, “Well when the kids need it, and you can tell when they’ve got it [understanding of material/concept], it’s easier to feel like you’re on fire [figuratively speaking] in the next part of my day, no matter what it is that I have planned in my planner.” John is obviously “on fire” as his students have steadily improved and are tracking towards meeting their goals. When Sam Prins was questioned by Rob regarding the Car Wash, Sam quickly retorted, “Rob, I’ve got this… They don’t call me the Party Secretary for Nuthin'” Best quote ever by the way. Study Hut is carrying this positive energy right into the tournament a.k.a. the school week and the first week of May. Congratulations and Thank You to all the tutors who participated in the Study Hut Tutoring Relay for Life Fundraiser Car Wash. Thank you for using compostable and environmentally approved degradable car soaps. Pretty sure my car has never looked better.
Our Tutor’s Knowledge Runs Deep and True
April 18th, 2011Growing up I always had an interest in the sciences. The idea of crazy science experiments
and watching the Magic School Bus definitely played a major role in sparking my interests in the
sciences. The classes and labs I took in high school lead me to choose Biology as my major in
college. The labs especially sparked my interest. They allowed for a hands on experience and
which I feel gave me a better understanding of the material. One lab in particular in physics
class involved launching rockets on the football field and using their trajectory to try and
estimate the distance traveled. I feel that I am a visual learner and the science labs helped me
grasp the material much better than just reading the text or going to lecture. When I finally got
to college the labs got even cooler. The best was making a neon solution in my organic
chemistry lab and watching the fluorescence when the lights were turned off. Because I
majored in Biology, I feel very comfortable tutoring students in science and math at Study Hut. I
try to relate to the students when they complain about how boring the class is, or how they will
never use this stuff again, but stress they most likely will so its important they master the topics
now. Study Hut also provides a great resource for students going to college. We have tutors
here who just recently graduated from college so they can provide insight into what to expect,
and what direction student should try to focus on academically. I remember my freshmen
orientation, and it was kind of pointless. There wasn’t enough time to connect with the
orientation leaders and its a lot harder to approach a much older college professor who you’ve
never met before.
This is why I love tutoring at Study Hut
April 8th, 2011A friend of mine recently asked me what I like about tutoring. I thought it was a strange question, because to me it feels to me like the perfect part time job. When I told him this he just shook his head and said that he was so glad that he didn’t have to read Jane Eyre or touch a geometry problem for the rest of his life. That made me smile, because his job – car salesman – is something that I know I would absolutely hate. It’s good to know that there’s an ideal job out there for everyone, and that it’s different for everybody.
So what is it that I love about tutoring? What is that drives me to help my students, makes me review statistics and calculus at home, causes me to dream up new explanations and tutoring techniques while I drift off to sleep at night?
It’s really two things. For starters, I genuinely find high school math and science genuinely interesting. A lot of people like sudoku and word problems. Me? I like SATs and word problems. There’s a puzzle behind every exam and homework assignment; when you sit down pencil in hand it is a battle of wits between you and the teacher. Although I must no longer take those tests myself, it is still a vicarious pleasure helping my students wrestle with a tough problem, turn their mental gears, and finally achieve that eureka moment.
Secondly, I really like helping people. That sounds cliche, but it’s the truth. When I was in school I struggled with a lot of my subjects and fell behind. It’s the worst feeling, and one we are all familiar with. Who hasn’t had that dream where you’re taking an exam for a class you’ve never attended? Well my students are still going through that, and I love be able to hoist them back onto dry land.
Study Hut Tutoring: Making the team stronger
April 3rd, 2011My favorite part of tutoring at Study Hut is working with the students. However, my second favorite thing is working with the other tutors. Knowledge and experience is integral to the job, but Rob and Sean only hire people who are friendly, positive, and play well with others. This is good for our students, but it’s also good for us – the same traits that make us good tutors also make us good friends and coworkers.
Once a week we all try to meet after work to play a few hands of poker. It’s a fun time with nice people, and some of these guys are pretty good at it, too. All that work that goes into teaching AP probabilities and statistics apparently lends itself really well to counting odds on the fly.
After awhile, we’re not just playing cards with our coworkers; we’re playing cards with our friends. And that means that we’re going to work with our friends, too. All this adds up to a learning environment that is vibrant, fun, and full of people who know and trust each other. We know implicitly that we can rely on one another to pick up the slack when needed, and together deal with the most challenging problems any school can possibly throw at us.
You Are Not the Subjects You Study
March 28th, 2011 As a parent, you know that your child is a complex individual, full of surprises. You know their dreams and aspirations, their fears and dislikes, what influences and what motivates them. You know that though they may grow bored at school, frustrated with teachers or affected by their peers, that if someone could find the key to tap into your child’s potential they would shine as brightly as they do in your eyes. It is this uniqueness that we try to cultivate. There are a few special ingredients that make Study Hut such a sweet place to learn and one of them is that we recognize each student’s individuality. Tutors are paired students that allow us to foster genuine connections and have a real positive influence. That’s why we enjoy being tutors. While many of our tutors can teach multiple subjects, Study Hut takes the time to place students according to their personality and ambitions. Seeing our students strive for the same goals we’ve have sought to attain inspires us and we pass this inspiration onto our students.
A real understanding of who your child is also helps us tutor more effectively. Biology becomes a basketball team, physics becomes skate boarding and statistics becomes the probability the Lakers will win the championship (100%, of course!) Students are no longer just another face in a sea of students but part of the Study Hut family. Every child learns differently, and relates differently. Parents know this for their children; tutors should know this for their students. We don’t just teach a child, we teach your child.
Study Hut is Scholar Quiz
March 22nd, 2011Study Hut Tutoring is proud to announce its involvement in this year’s Scholar Quiz at Palos Verdes High School. As many people in the South Bay know, Study Hut has been sponsoring the Scholar Quiz at Mira Costa High School for several years now. And with our involvement level as high as it is with the Palos Verdes High School AVID program, it only makes sense that we are now sponsoring the PV High Scholar Quiz tournament.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Scholar Quiz, it is a fast-paced academic tournament in which students on teams of four are asked to answer questions as quickly as possible. It is a lot like Jeopardy, except students can stop the reader and answer the questions at any time.
Scholar Quiz represents all that is Study Hut. We love trivia, we love studying, and we love when students work hard and receive the recognition they deserve for all of their efforts. One of Study Hut’s founders, SP, made it to the semis at Mira Costa’s 2003 tourney. Today, many of our tutors volunteer as readers, timers, and scorekeepers for the Scholar Quiz at Mira Costa, and the Scholar Quiz at Manhattan Beach Middle School. MBMS’s Scholar Quiz is always fun, because oftentimes parents come to support their kids, and even students who are not signed up for the program still visit various teachers’ classrooms to root for their friends’ teams. Teachers are always excited to host all of the students in their classrooms, and some teachers get really into it, reading questions and facilitating the tournament in their classrooms like professional referees.
We are as excited as ever to be entering the Scholar Quiz season, and for those of you who go to Mira Costa or PV High, we hope you enjoy the t-shirts this yea.
What makes the Study Hut Family Awesome
March 7th, 2011As 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.
The Common Denominator
March 7th, 2011Everyone who comes in for tutoring at the Hut has the same goal: to do better academically. Of course, methods and results can vary drastically from person to person. So, a major question that everyone should ask themselves as they walk in here is this: “What can I do to make the most out of my Study Hut experience?”
Now, some people might think that the smartest students are automatically the ones who will do best. I am here to tell you, this is not the case. Natural intelligence is rare. The one common quality, or “common denominator” for you math fans out there, is attitude. All of the students who show the most improvement all have that in common: a great attitude. It doesn’t matter if you’re Albert Einstein; if you come in here with no interest in working, no desire to improve, and no excitement for the material, odds are you won’t make much progress. The students whose scores improve the most are the one’s who come in with the goal of doing BETTER. They may not understand the material well, or even at all, but they want that to change and are prepared to work for it. Some of our students come in knowing EXACTLY what they want to work on, have done the appropriate preparation, and eagerly accept the tutor’s help. Other students come in mumbling, having no prep work done, and couldn’t care less if they learn the material. I’ll give you one guess as to who has the more rewarding experience.
Attitude is what it comes down to. The one’s that want to learn, and are excited about learning are usually to one’s to excel. And they’re ALWAYS the one’s to appreciate the Hut the most.
