A Hillsborough High School student’s desire to help younger kids with math has been embraced by the local library.
Senior Nicole Levine created the Mastering Mathematics Center at the Hillsborough library as part of an internship arranged by the high school’s REACH program.
Nicole began interning in September. She worked with youth services department supervisor Laura Mellor and Diane Valentine, youth services librarian.
“I mentioned that I was interested in math, and my mentors suggested creating a program to help younger students with math at the library,” said Nicole.
How it worked: Nicole was available to tutor children grades 1-4 in math during 30-minute slots. The child would bring his or her textbook, homework, and/or past math quizzes/tests. Nicole would work with the child to navigate through challenges and would give him or her problems to work through to reinforce what they reviewed.
“As soon as we started to promote the program, registration spots filled instantly,” said Ms.Valentine. “Parents and teachers saw this as a wonderful opportunity for younger students to get the extra math assistance they needed. The Hillsborough schools were so helpful in spreading the word.”
Nicole learned from the experience, too.
“I learned how to communicate better with other people and how to explain concepts simply for people to understand,” said Nicole. “I learned that every mind works differently and that, although some concepts may seem obvious to me, they are completely foreign to the children who are just beginning to learn them. Thus, I must alter my approach so that my explanations make sense to them.”
She said: “I wanted to help other students with their difficulties so that math could be as fun for them as it is for me.”
The high school was pleased with Nicole’s experience.
“Many parents took advantage of Nicole’s center and she had almost all available time slots full,” said Patricia Yale-Wasdyke, REACH coordinator and College Prep and Advanced Placement U.S. history teacher at the high school. “Not only did her program fulfill a community need, but Nicole also grew as a person.”
Library staff was pleased, too.
“Because the Mastering Mathematics Center was so successful, we didn’t want to lose our audience once Nicole’s internship ended,” said Ms. Valentine. “Our solution was to have our existing Homework Help Center — also created by a Hillsborough High School intern — absorb the Mastering Mathematics Center. The HHC was originally a program to assist students grades 5-8 with assignments in all subjects. We have now expanded the HHC so that our volunteers will also be able to provide Mastering Mathematics help for grades 1-8. This will allow us to retain all math students in grades 1-4 that would not have previously qualified for HHC assistance.”
Nicole said she planned to go to college, major in math and become an actuary.
For information about the Homework Help Center, call the library at 908-369-2200.
