The Tower Learning Center is piloting an SAT preparatory system to pair students with peer tutors at Palo Alto High School following its launch in the beginning of March.
The SAT prep follows the same structure as peer tutoring at the TLC, where scholars are paired up with a tutor for weekly one-on-one sessions, or by a need basis. Junior Anja Nilsen founded the program after her own experience with taking the exam sparked an idea to bring an SAT tutoring system to Paly.
“I’ve done a lot of [SAT] prep because I’ve taken it quite a few times,” Nilsen said. “I also got an email from the SAT College Board, and it was like, ‘Do you want to be a peer tutor?’ because they were running an SAT tutoring class too. So that just gave me the idea, like why not start it through the tutoring center?”
Tutor Christina Gu, a junior, said the SAT prep will gauge student knowledge first to help them with specific skills.
“Based on what score you get on one practice test, we’re going to see what areas you need improvement on and teach you based off of what you don’t know,” Gu said.
According to Nilsen, they have been working to help students prepare for upcoming SAT exams, including the SAT on Wednesday for juniors.
“We have a few tutors and we’re just pairing some scholars with the tutors,” Nilsen said. “For this past month, we’ve been prepping for the school-day one [SAT]. For now, we’re just doing it on a very small scale to test it out, and in the future we’ll expand.”
According to YJ Lee, Tower Learning Center coordinator, timing and cost were factors that played in the creation of the SAT tutoring organization.
“Because people are busy — they have sports or other after-school activities — and, of course, the money is why we want to provide a free tutoring service for our students,” Lee said.
Nilsen said that students often face challenges with the overall structure of the SAT and finding the right resources.
“The biggest issue is how to take the test because the timing is really hard,” Nilsen said. “You have to figure out how to make the most of the resources.”
Gu said that through SAT tutoring, she hopes to pass on her knowledge to other students going through the same process as her.
“I had someone else help me with the SAT, and they gave me a book and taught me and tutored me on the weekends,” Gu said. “I feel like it’s important to provide that to someone else too.”
For any students interested in the SAT sessions provided by the TLC or who want to become an SAT tutor, reach out to Lee at yjlee@pausd.org.
