Tutoring from afar - we got this!

Online Tutoring at Capital High!

Communities In Schools (CIS) is excited to share that online tutoring with our volunteer tutors is up and running at Capital High! It took some training, and some patience to organize the sessions, but now students have regular Google Meet sessions with tutors and these volunteers are making a difference!

Ruth Howes, Ph.D., retired to Santa Fe with her husband in 2008 and has tutored students at different schools in our community ever since. The consummate scholar, she attended Amherst College as an undergraduate and, giggling that she wasn't ready for a job, stayed in school and received her Ph.D. from Columbia University, focusing on nuclear physics. Dr. Howes is professor emerita of physics and astronomy from Ball State University and former chair of the physics department at Marquette University. Clearly, she is highly qualified to tutor high school math and science, and Santa Fe is most fortunate that she shares her time with our local students. Her cheerful personality makes her especially approachable!

"Sabra Romero from Santa Fe Public Schools provided training sessions to teach us how to tutor online. She showed us how to open a white board on screen - and that helps me a lot," comments Dr. Howes. "Communities In Schools schedules our sessions, so I just click on my computer screen and the next thing I know, I am face to face with my students! A CIS Site Coordinator accompanies each session to ensure safe communication. It has been so easy - and fun!"

Capital High student, Adin, in an algebra tutoring session with volunteer tutor, Ruth Howes.

"There must be a science exam scheduled soon," Dr. Howes continues. "Many students are asking for help right now in Chemistry. And then there are students that I work with regularly in certain subjects. It is rewarding!" Dr. Howes tutored a student at Capital that was in the medical pathways program. Together they celebrated when the student was the first in the school to pass the AP Bio Chem exam!

Adin, a senior at Capital High shared, "Sinte, a CIS Site Coordinator at Capital, connected me with the tutoring program. I've been working once a week with Ruth for over a year. Online tutoring works just as well as pre-COVID, in-person sessions. Ruth is great. She is the reason I passed algebra!”

"It is really fun to work with students," shares Ruth. “The best is when they understand - you know they get it because their eyes light up!"

CIS Site Coordinator at Capital High, Sinte Torrez, coordinates the tutoring for the high school students. Currently, there are six adult volunteer tutors and four peer tutors providing remote academic support to approximately 25 students every week. Thank you to these volunteers for your time and commitment!