We are excited to kick-off our In-Session program with 54 middle school students from Marco Forester Middle School! Based on student feedback from the summer, this year’s In-Session program focuses on tutoring and homework help. We have also added academic themes to each month of tutoring, ending in a big event. Some of the events taking place will be a science fair, spelling bee, and debate.
During In-Session, you can also see our “students teaching students” model at work: high school volunteers teach the 7th and 8th grade students. We currently have 27 high school volunteers from San Juan Hills, St. Margaret’s, Dana Hills, Capo Valley, and Santa Margarita High School, our largest group yet! Teachers co-teach small classrooms of about five students every Tuesday and Thursday during the school year. Some teachers have previous experience teaching with Breakthrough, either as intern teachers in the summer program or teachers in last year’s In-Session program. Nivin Singh, a St. Margaret’s student, said he came back to teach In-Session because he “made a real impact on students’ lives and saw a dramatic improvement in their scores.”
In-Session teachers Coral and Jassmin are not only returning teachers, but are Breakthrough students themselves. When asked why they decided to be In-Session teachers, both stated that their positive experiences as Breakthrough students motivated them to teach and inspire middle school students to go to college. Jassmin, an intern teacher from the summer program, said, “I did it for the students. I like getting to know them and motivating them so they can get to college,” adding, “I came from the same place and background and want to see them succeed.”