STJ Peer Tutors

by Sidnee Beavers, Class of 2021:

The Writing Center has evolved into a phenomenal service for students at Saint James School. Mrs. Ramsey, our fantastic Librarian, founded the Writing Center to help students develop their essays and creative writing. The program grew quickly. Mrs. Ramsey selected a great team of Saint James seniors to assist her in offering additional services. The 2020-2021 peer tutors are Sidnee Beavers, Paige Hemmer, Ella Taylor, Zoe Tatum, Izabella Hernandez, Barrett Hammond, and Sumner Brown.

Peer tutors are senior students who have an interest in writing and service. These students allow the Writing Center to offer more flexible hours and additional services. Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, the school has become even more technologically proficient, allowing Peer Tutors to offer services in-person and over zoom. The Peer tutors are able to work in the mornings, afternoon, and even on weekends to better serve the STJ student body.

Peer Tutors have many tools to assist students in their writing. They have a history of high quality English studies from Saint James School. They can often be found in Advanced Placement English classes or in creative writing clubs. Peer Tutors also received additional training with Mrs. Ramsey over the summer. Training included technology instruction, relevant scenarios, and Socratic discussion.

Peer tutors offer many services to Saint James students. Peer students are most commonly asked to assist with essays for English class. Tutors are trained to help students at any point in the development of their essays, whether that be brainstorming topics or proofreading a well developed essay. However, because of their experiences at Saint James, Peer tutors are also able to assist students with history classes. History classes at Saint James are college preparatory, so they require a significant amount of writing. The Peer Tutors can assist students with bibliographies for history classes or Document based question essays for Advanced Placement history classes. Peer tutors are also happy to help students with any creative writing they may be interested in writing.

All of the peer tutors have greatly enjoyed helping students become more confident in their voice while writing. We are more than happy to help students in grades 9-12. Students can schedule an appointment by going to OnCampus, clicking on the Resources button in the top banner, press on the High/Middle School Library, click on the “Click Here for Writing Center Peer Tutor Appointments on the write hand side, and then select a Peer tutor to make a 30 minute appointment with. We are so excited to offer this free program at Saint James. Go Trojans!