"A Free Tutoring Service: Preparing for the Future"

                                          A Federal and State of California Nonprofit Corporation

Lesson Review D- 20: Valuable Links   

October 28, 2003  On and On we go!   

It's Official! We are a permanent Federal and State of California Nonprofit Corporation!

The Internal Revenue Service has granted us permanent status as a nonprofit organization, able to sustain itself through public support. It took a lot of doing, but the supporters of A Free Tutoring Service did it. Many thanks to all who supported us doing the 3 years of the Advance Ruling Period.

Your donation to our Organization will get you a tax deductible receipt, as usual. There is a lot of satisfaction in knowing that you are assisting the youth of our communities with your donation. We have been met with many adversities, but we have persevered, thanks to our supporters. Please continue to make contributions, as they are most certainly needed!

Students in attendance this Tuesday afternoon: Quiana, Brittney, Jarrell, Ke' Ontra, Ashley, Ashlyn, Jaguar, JoJo, Desone, Cassondra, Kelan, James and Leola. Seven of the students hail from the City of Carson.

Cassondra and I worked one-on-one on her Algebra Two homework. It dealt with the range of "greater than, less than" problems. It took in the graphing of such problems utilizing the knowledge of the straight line equation, y = mx + b. Cassondra became expert at graphing the area bounded by such problems that involved finding the vertices of an area that is bounded by the lines. She then had to substitute the values of those vertices into a F ( x, y) to find the values. Cassondra will most certainly receive an "A" on her next examination.

Leola and I worked one-on-one on factoring polynomials. The FOIL method was utilized in finding the two factors of her 10 or so problems. I seized the opportunity to teach her all about exponents as we worked problem after problem until she was able to do them all by herself. Leola and I had previously tackled "word problems" and she has found out how to solve those problems involved with calculating how many dimes, nickels and quarters might be contained in a certain amount of cash when the number of coin is given in terms of another. We also did word problems involving the mixture of one substance of a concentration with another to determine from the final amount of solution the amount of each substance in a final mixture. Word problems involving "one train left 3 hours before another train where both are traveling in opposite or the same direction are easy to solve when one takes into consideration that the distance traveled is the same and to find the total distance, one must remember that V= S/T and assign the distance, S" to each train that is traveling a certain velocity, V, and then add the two distances to find the distance they traveled before meeting or before separating to some known quantity. Always remember to use (t-3) or (t+3) to indicate a departure time of 3 hours difference between the two trains. ( Can you visualize two trains traveling at two different speeds, leaving from the same station where one leaves 3 hours before the other. You are then given a distance "S" where the two trains are apart and required to find the "time of day" that this occurs?)

Quiana has returned after a brief illness and I, as well, as all of the other students made her feel welcome. We support one another and it is extremely gratifying to know that we can provide moral support to our students. They oftentimes look forward to coming over, as Quiana related, to a place where they can concentrate and study.

I gave kelan a reward for learning her "times tables" or remembering those she had forgotten. We then delved into adding fractions utilizing the "9" and the "8" times tables. Kelan now knows how to add fractions! We will cover the subtraction, multiplication and division of fractions with her on Thursday.

James did his Algebra One homework and I checked it for accuracy.

Jaguar and I had done matrix problems in Algebra Two on Monday and we worked most of the homework problems involving same. This night, I assisted Jaguar with the Internet, where she had to find a " once poor, but now rich" character. We chose Fredrick Douglas and Jaguar did a report from the Internet.

Ke' Ontra did her homework, as usual, with little assistance. Since she is taking Spanish, I had her to speak to our Spanish Tutor via telephone, Charles, and they had a conversation utilizing the Spanish Language. I also had each student to speak to Charles and he spoke a few words of Spanish to each.

Several students were reminded about discipline and the reasons for their presence in an intense tutoring program. They were told that suspensions will occur when discipline is ignored!

It might be very hard for anyone to comprehend how one person can assist so many at the same time. It is a nonstop approach by a dedicated tutor that gets the job done!

I am committed to assist each and every student in the tutoring program, and that might involve adding yet another afternoon to the 3 that I am already engaged. Teaching the 12-15 students who come by for assistance is my top priority and "tired eyes and brain" is not an option for me!