From the start of the bell to the ending bell, the Peer Tutors know that the next 45 minutes will impact their day. Hustling into the Focus room to see what their assignments are with the students of the Focus Program, they are ready to get to work.Smiles and laughs are exchanged between the students and they are off to their next assignment.

Peer Tutors are a huge part of the Focus Program and are devoting an hour of their day to help and educate students in the program. These students have some disabilities that might restrict them from doing things alone and this is where Peer Tutors come in. They don’t do the work for the student, they give them a boost and key tips to being the best student they can be so that they can successfully complete their task.

“First we talk about what we did the night before and then we have to complete the activities for the day that the teacher assigns. On Mondays we have team building activities.”, junior peer tutor, Laura Eldridge said.

The peer tutors run around the school with the students everyday. They go over what is necessary, but also include some moments of laughter and being silly. It is the peer tutors job to make sure the student is content, comfortable, but also learning at the same time.

“Just being with the kids and spending time with them. It’s so easy to make friends with all of them” senior peer tutor, Hayley Cape said.

Hayley started peer tutoring freshmen year and has done it ever since. However she is very familiar with students who have disabilities. Hayley has an older brother who has autism. She says she has gone back and forth with the decision of going into Special Education as a major because it would come easy to her considering she is so close with her brother.

“Peer tutors allow our students to be more successful in both the special education and general education classrooms,” Special Education teacher, Brooke Claypool said. “It allows us to have more individualized support which makes a significant impact on the students involved.”

The students of the Focus Program are impacting a lot of people and if someone thinks they would like to Peer Tutor or volunteer their time into hanging out with the students they can contact any of the teachers in the Focus Program.

“Peer tutors allow students in our classrooms to build relationships with other students in the building that they might not have otherwise,” Claypool said. “It also allows students in our classrooms to learn alongside their peers which is very beneficial to everyone involved.”

Peer Tutors are making their mark on the program and have for awhile. The students who partake in peer tutoring must be patient, respectful and have a true heart for helping others out.

“I wish that people knew that these kids are just like everyone else, they are human just like everyone else,” Hayley said. “Just because someone may appear different doesn’t make them “retarded”;I absolutley hate that word.”

Many students are in peer tutoring, but also there is a large amount who are not. However, almost all students know what peer tutors do and the importance of them.

“I appreciate all of the work that the Peer Tutors do and the time they put into helping out others. They might not think anyone notices, but trust me it is very obvious that they are leaders,” sophomore Freddie Charlesworth said.