Is your high school student struggling with class? FIU med students tutor for free.
When Florida International University transitioned to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March, third-year medical student Matthew Hey suddenly found himself with a lot of free time.
“It was frustrating,” he said. “We were about to start our clinical rotations when they canceled.”
Unable to help the community from a hospital, the 23-year-old got creative and came up with an alternative.
Together with a few of his colleagues, the Orlando native founded HOPE, Helping Out Public Education, a free tutoring program designed to allow FIU medical students to mentor Miami-Dade Public Schools students from grades 9 to 12 who are taking online classes.
Since it launched April 9, nearly 60 FIU students have volunteered to serve as tutors in a wide range of subjects, including physics, history and piano, and about 30 high school students have requested one-on-one sessions, which last for about an hour each, via Zoom.
All tutors are background checked before they work, and an MDCPS curriculum support specialist will monitor every session for the first three weeks to make sure everything launches smoothly.
“We’re really excited about it,” Hey said. “Hopefully this is something that can be reproduced and emulated for other grades and other school districts.”
Cris Carranza, the science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics administrative director for MDCPS, said that the idea was a “no-brainer” because he considers FIU a trusted partner and the kids urgently need help.
More than 70% of the students in the county are eligible for free and reduced lunch, he said. And those who struggle to buy food, probably can’t afford to pay $50 or so per hour for tutoring.
Like Hey, Carranza would also like to see the program grow.
“The need and desire is there, but it’s a matter of how many tutors from FIU will be willing and able,” he said. “The last thing I want from the district’s perspective is to over-promise and under-deliver.”
Does it work?
The transition to online learning for high school junior Amanda Jaimes wasn’t too hard, but she did struggle a bit with her AP Chemistry class.
Then one day, as she scrolled through her email inbox, she spotted a message from her chemistry teacher, letting her know about HOPE. She signed up immediately.
“I have all of this extra time now, so I figured I might as well use it to study,” said the 17-year-old, who attends MAST @ Homestead.
About a month away from taking her AP exam, she tuned into the tutoring session with an FIU medical student.
“I was really shy at first,” she said, “but then I turned on my camera, and it was a good experience. I enjoyed it.”
The tutor told her the last time he studied chemistry was eight years, so he couldn’t quite go over the material with her. However, he recommended some online resources, like Khan Academy.
Samantha Rodriguez, an FIU third-year medical student, also liked the program because she said it allowed her to make a difference in others’ lives.
The tutoring is not only giving students a chance to ask questions about the content, Rodriguez said, but also providing general support and structure, at a time when everything seems chaotic.
“Parents have a lot of stress right now, and AP Bio might not be their highest priority or not even something they’re familiar with, so I think we really can help them out,” the 26-year-old said.
Anyone interested can schedule a personal session with an FIU tutor from 3 to 8 p.m. any day of the week at www.go.fiu.edu/HOPE.
