There are multiple ways for a person to learn, whether it be hands on, visual or another method that teachers may use, but sometimes the way that the students are learning is not the right way for them, and they need a little extra help. That is where the SHS National Honor Society (NHS) students come in.

They find and tutor students, from elementary to high school ages, to help them get caught up with other students at their level and maybe get them a little ahead. This tutoring often consists of sitting down with someone who is working on learning the English language and helping them read and understand what they are reading, according to NHS sponsor Christina Ferguson and senior Van Hnem.

“One of the programs at Southport High School that we support is the English Learner program that Mr. Klopfenstein is heading up, so some of our students are helping out with that,” Ferguson said.  “If they need a translator in the classroom or help a certain period tutoring and maybe speak a different language they’ll help with that.”

According to Ferguson, the students who volunteer to help out and do this can be assigned to do different things at different times.

“I would ask them to check if they understood the words and the storyline,” Hnem said, “So if they don’t understand a word or a phrase then I would explain it to them.”

Hnem also explained how this was very important to her and that she had been in their position. She also says that she wished  someone could have helped her one on one like they do.

“Personally it was important because I’ve had my own experiences of coming here to the U.S. and not knowing anything” Hnem said, “So I would have really appreciated it if there was someone who could tutor me and help me figure things out. I didn’t have that, but I was more than happy to offer that to someone who needs my help.”

According to Ferguson, the NHS tutoring program has several effects on many different people and everybody in the program has different experiences and nearly all of them allow the students to learn quicker and easier than they would before.