Walk into Ignatius Hall, classroom I-103, and you will see the personification of cura personalis.

Groups of students huddled over desks. Some have headphones on. Some are in groups discussing math formulas and grammar syntax. And some are partnered with another student, brows furrowed followed by glimpses of “I got it!” flashing across their faces. On any given day there are 20-30 students in the room. And that’s how you know you have entered the Prep Peer Tutoring Zone.  

The Peer Tutoring program is run by and run for Seattle Prep students. Under the leadership of math teacher and National Honor Society (NHS) Moderator Kelly Young, students from NHS drive this peer-to-peer community of learners.  

“This service outreach program speaks to mission,” says Kelly. “Everything we do here supports the greater mission of the Seattle Prep. It also speaks to leadership development and peers helping peers with real life skills.” 

Tutoring services are as diverse as the students. Kelly pairs students up based on their needs—from content specific issues and advice on executive functioning skills to different teaching styles and the optimal use of technological tools. But at the end of the day, she says, “a peer tutor is really more of an accountability partner.” 

Tutor Skye Luebbe Davidson ’24 understands the boundaries. “The tutor’s role is to guide, not teach. We are supposed to help the student understand material that the teacher has taught in class. We are not replacing the role of the teacher.” 

“Teaching students to advocate for themselves IS the point,” says Kelly. “We want students to get help before they fall too far behind. It is a life skill to be able to know how and when to ask for help.” 

Four years ago, Kelly took over the struggling program which provided after-school academic support in the library by two student tutors. Kelly believes low participation was due to the stigma often associated with tutoring and the legitimate competition with after-school activities such as sports, theatre and mock trial. 

She set out to make changes. First, she created a substantial network of student tutors from NHS (numbering 170). Currently, student volunteers are required to tutor three hours each semester. Kelly plans on increasing that this year to meet demand. She also extended tutoring support to Window period and provided a classroom setting.  

Another welcomed change is the growing partnership between the program and the school’s well established Learning Resource Center (LRC). Peer tutoring has been able to jump in and serve “the gap”--students who don’t have an Individual Education Program (IEP) and therefore do not qualify for LRC support. Conversely NHS has been able to offer up their tutors to assist in the LRC, such as graduate Maria McDowell ’24 who received specific training and experience in honing their tutoring skills. 

Other successes include the introduction of a Master Tutor Program, three years ago. NHS students apply to be a part of the program, specializing in a specific subject area. Once accepted, they are paired up with another student to assist them outside of Window, to accommodate existing schedule conflicts. 

Kelly says, “Last year I had probably 10 students who were working with master tutors all year long. It was very cool to see underclassmen paired with upperclassmen. It was awesome because they would meet anytime-- sometimes virtually on Zoom or Facetime or gather in my classroom at lunch.” This flexibility has been key to the program’s success.   

Skye stepped up to help in a big way. “Skye was one of those kids who hung out in the library. And out of the blue he took it upon himself to come and help tutor,” Kelly says. “He is great with people and loves tutoring. He also is fantastic at the organizational part of it and was one of my appointed leaders this year.” 

What keeps Skye committed?  

“Honestly this is going to sound a bit cheesy,” he says, “but when you are sitting in the room and checking on everyone and you look over and there are 20 different conversations going on about how to solve a problem in Algebra 2 Trigonometry and balancing chemical equations and ordering the parts of a cell, you realize that these are people who probably wouldn’t ordinarily interact much. That’s a great feeling.” 

And then there are the students who go above and beyond, such as Nicholas Vlasceanu ’25 and Peter Frauenheim ’24. “As part of your role in NHS you need to complete eight tutoring sessions each year,” Skye says, “but Nicholas and Peter completed their sessions and kept coming back because they enjoy helping people. There are so many other things they could be doing with their time, but they want to give back.” 

Skye was also determined to debunk the myths around tutoring. He says, “One of the big problems we are trying to address is that many people see tutoring as just math help. But math is not the only subject that students struggle with. We have tutors for every subject and that’s really cool. I’m not sure everyone knows that.” 

Looking toward the 2024-2025 school year the Peer Tutor Program will continue to lobby for additional time periods in which they can offer tutoring services, emphasize tutor training, lead seminars, develop writing partner opportunities and widen their current network of ambassadors (counselors, teachers) to include parents and students themselves who recognize the value of getting help early on.  

Spreading the word about this amazing resource is key.  

Skye says, “I took difficult classes and consider myself a good student and still there were times when I was challenged in class because that’s the nature of a Prep education. The academics are rigorous and at times difficult so it can be a lot less stressful to get support from a peer who understands the class better and has even been through it before.” 

Some of the best tutors are the students who have first-hand experience with being tutored. “If you have worked with a peer tutor, you are probably going to be an awesome NHS tutor,” says Kelly. A student like Ben Oswald ’24 knows from experience what works or doesn’t work. He knows the value of getting help.” 

Kelly says, I cannot think of a better way to live out the Jesuit Grad at Grad principal of being spiritually alive--as we are called to “live as a person for others.”