The academic center: helpful, diverse, welcoming
Students gather in the Academic Center on campus to study, complete homework, receive assistance in any subject, or get information about the college system every weekday. This school year, some students work with tutors, some read silently, and some discuss assignments quietly with friends in the center, creating a low, tranquil murmur throughout the room.
The Academic Center is a helpful outlet that aids between 50 and 125 students on a daily basis. However, many others do not take advantage of or even know of this peaceful—and useful—study space.
A Diverse Group of Students
Though the Academic Center’s initial focus was helping English Language Learners, it welcomes students of all backgrounds and academic ability. During the 2010-2011 school year at DHS, 69.8 percent of students tutored had learned English as a first language, whereas the other 30.2 percent were either English learners or had been at some time, according to information provided by Academic Center coordinator Elizabeth Arroyo.
Junior Thamineh Tabatabaeifar is an ESL student from Iran who began learning English in the eighth grade.
“When I moved here, I didn’t know the alphabet,” Tabatabaeifar recalled. “[But] I moved on, and my English improved.” The Academic Center is still helpful to her; she frequents it after school and during her free first period, usually for help on work from her AP U.S. History class.
Junior Sahira Waheed, whose first language is English, attends the Center every day after school to receive assistance with her chemistry and math homework. She recommends it to “everyone who has trouble in a subject but is too afraid to ask for help.” Waheed finds the Academic Center so welcoming that the only negative thing she could say about it is the fact that it often closes at 4:30, thus limiting the time she can spend there.
Showing the Center’s Success
According to the data provided by Arroyo, after about 35 tutoring sessions at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, the GPAs of many ESL students increased by a whole grade point with their average GPA at 2.51. After about 20 more sessions, these students’ grades continued to rise, their average GPA increasing to 2.94.
“Just looking at a student’s individual grades over the semester may show improvement,” Arroyo said. “There is a student who was failing geometry at the beginning of the semester [before he started attending after-school tutoring sessions]. For Quarter 2 he received a B.”
A Tutor’s Reward
Senior Anais Sidhu, Academic Center tutor, enjoys getting to know the students at the Academic Center as well as teaching them. “Really getting to know these students, their expectations, cultures, and understandings is a phenomenal part of being a tutor,” she said. “You learn so much from them, and you realize that though they have a language barrier, the students are intelligent and motivated.”
Sidhu also feels a connection to the students because she knows what it is like to be in some of their shoes. “Because I used to be an ESL [English as a Second Language] student myself when I was young, I find it interesting to be in a position where I can now help ESL students at Davis High,” she said. “[The Academic Center] is a great resource because so many languages are represented there; ESL students [in particular] can really connect with at least one tutor.”
“I love the students here, and I find [teaching them] a challenge,” academics tutor Andy Lee said. His favorite part of the job is “watching students have that ‘aha’ moment.”
According to Lee, not many students realize the great opportunity that the Academic Center offers. The center is open Monday through Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Fridays from 7:30 to 3:30 p.m.
