RAPID
CITY, SD (Feb. 9, 2021) — A new organization created and run by students
at South
Dakota Mines offers free
tutoring to K-12-age students.
StudyDakota is the brainchild of Debbie Rankin and
Kate Dickinson, both biomedical engineering graduate students at
Mines. Rankin began exploring the idea of a tutoring program after volunteering
her time for the Homework Helpers program in New York. She
shared her idea for a similar local program to her friend and classmate
Dickinson.
“It was a five-minute conversation that turned into a large
project,” Dickinson says.
Both Dickinson and Rankin say many students don’t have the resources
they need to succeed, especially with the challenges of the pandemic. “We act
like education is equal for all but not every family has the resources or time
to help their children with academics,” says Rankin. “We’re trying to fill that
gap.”
The pair were joined by two other students – biomedical
engineering graduate student Taylor Bright and biology/chemistry undergraduate
Kyle Bergevin – in establishing the program. Kelsey Gilcrease, an instructor
in the Department of Chemistry, Biology and Health Sciences, also played an “integral
part in helping to establish the program and she’s served as a great mentor,”
says Rankin. “She’s really supported our idea and boosted our confidence in the
decisions we made.”
Currently StudyDakota has 29 volunteer tutors who are either
Mines students or Mines alumni. The program can manage from 40 to 60 students
with some tutors teaching more than one student at a time.
Tutors offer help in the following areas – mathematics,
biology, chemistry, engineering/computer science, physics and English. Students
and their parents can sign up on the StudyDakota website at https://www.studydakota.org/.
Each student in need of tutoring is assigned a tutor and
asked to email homework ahead of their scheduled one-hour session. This allows
tutors to familiarize themselves with the classwork before the session begins,
Rankin says.
All sessions are done via Zoom, organized in one large Zoom
meeting with breakout rooms for individual students and tutors. The Zoom organizer
pops in and out of sessions and parents are encouraged to sit in as well.
Rankin says safety has always been a factor in planning the
program. Alumni who tutor are asked to pay for a background check. Current
Mines students who tutor are vetted as well, but do not undergo a background
check. Tutors are never to share private information, including phone numbers,
with those they tutor. In fact, only first names are shared between tutor and
student. Tutors also sign confidentiality forms.
Tutors will be added on a rolling basis. Students or alumni
interested in volunteering for the project can send inquiries on the
StudyDakota website.