When Masters students saw the chance to make learning more collaborative and student driven, they didn’t wait for someone else to take a step up. This semester, the Writing Beyond Masters website where students can submit to national writing competitions, as well as the Math Center where students can drop in to be tutored by a host of qualified students, were unveiled. Both projects share a common goal – empowering student support and involvement in the Masters community.
Students know that showing up to x-band before an upcoming math test is no easy feat. It gets crowded, and teachers can be overwhelmed and too occupied with their students to give each one sufficient individual assistance. But, with the new Math Center, students can get the help they need without having to compete for the attention of their teachers.
said Logan Chen ‘26, who is a current tutor at the Math center.
Math clinic, an after school time where students can get help from any math teacher (not just their own), is also a helpful place for students. However, the math center offers benefits that the clinic can’t. “Students have a little bit of a different perspective. I think we also have more hours that we’re available,” Chen said.
To qualify to be a tutor at the Math center, students must be in Algebra 2 at least. In addition, Michelle Dennis, the advisor of the center, has to approve. Keeping the qualifications at a lower level ensures that none of the tutors are revisiting material that they haven’t touched in a while. “We kept it [the requirement] on the lower end just because some of us are in a higher math class, and it’s been years since we’ve taken geometry or algebra,” Chen said.
Apart from the Math center is the brand new Writing Beyond Masters website – a source for students to access everything writing, including contests, workshops and student publications. On the website, students can see deadlines for contest submissions as well as descriptions of their requirements.
“A lot of students are already creating work that is great for contests, and so I think we have this culture where people get these opportunities but it’s really just the information that’s the missing piece,” Tom Cusano, the Writing Beyond Masters advisor said.
Through the website, students can also view various writing workshops to attend, including ones run by colleges and universities. Many of these workshops go beyond what writing is taught in school. One of them, called Gotham Writers: Teen Courses, works with teens on creative, script and video game writing.
While these opportunities beyond Masters are a great way for students to connect on a larger level, Cusano also emphasizes the importance of the writing help here on campus. “One thing that I wanted to make sure of was that this website wasn’t seen as a replacement for the writing opportunities available at Masters, including Tower, Panache and the Writing Center. It is meant to be an additional place,” Cusano said.
