Deer Lakes High School tutors go old-school with 1-to-1, 'paper-and-pencil' tutoring

The struggle is real for some elementary children.

A fledgling tutoring program, organized by Deer Lakes School District students and open to people across the Alle-Kiski Valley, aims to help with classroom challenges.

KFIVE is an initiative for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Services are free and offered from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursdays at East Union Presbyterian Church.

“There’s a lot of kids that need a little extra help,” said KFIVE co-president Elise Schaeffer, 17.

“There’s also a lot of parents that might not be able to pay for it.”

Fellow co-president CJ Everhart, also 17, said the program helps to build a solid foundation for elementary students and allows them to foster relationships with older peers.

“We try to give them a personalized experience,” Everhart said. “It’s one-to-one tutoring, and we go at their pace. It’s not a big classroom where everyone has to do the same thing.”

KFIVE is not a district-affiliated club. It was founded by students with a passion for education and leadership.

High school volunteers consist of mostly students in Advanced Placement and honors classes, as well as those who engage in community service.

“I love when our students proactively look for ways to get involved in our community,” Deer Lakes High School Principal Ryan Aleski said.

“The students involved in KFIVE have been tremendous tutors and role models for our elementary students.”

The student-run group has about 12 tutors and up to 10 children who show up for help in math, English and other subjects. Most are from Deer Lakes, but there are one or two from Fox Chapel Area and Highlands.

Parent Kim Snair said her fifth grade daughter got involved after needing a nudge in math.

“It has been very helpful to her,” Snair said. “I think the kids respond well to the high-schoolers. They have a nice rapport with the younger ones, and they make them feel like there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Snair said her daughter, 10, developed such a special bond with one of the tutors that the family hired her for private lessons on top of the free weekly sessions.

Schaeffer, who attends A.W. Beattie Career Center for early childhood education, said the program is great experience. She said it especially helps kids whose learning is still impacted by the pandemic shutdown.

“There’s kids who still struggle to stay on track,” she said. “And, despite the growth of tech-based learning, we wanted to get back to in-person, paper-and-pencil lessons.”

The sessions aren’t all work though.

Everhart said he likes to lead the kids in games, not only to help them have fun but to build their confidence and social skills.

“A cool aspect of the program is that sometimes the kids teach us,” he said. “How they’re taught these days is different from how we learned. So once we figure everything out, we help build their skills.

“They keep coming back so I think they really like it.”