Volunteer
If you're looking for an organization to get involved with, you can't do better than Breakthrough. From helping on Saturday excursions, to assisting in our office, we offer a range of meaningful volunteer options geared toward high school students, college students, and adults, including corporate teams. To express your interest and tell us more about yourself, please complete this brief form. Or, read on to learn about volunteering as a tutor.
Become a Tutor
The backbone of our school-year program, tutors work one-on-one or in small groups with our motivated fifth and sixth graders. They help students successfully complete homework and expose them to new academic challenges. Tutors receive training and support from Breakthrough's program staff and join a vibrant community. In a recent survey, 97% reported having a meaningful experience.
Tutors volunteer one afternoon per week, for two hours, on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, and make a semester-long commitment - from October to December or February to May. Applicants can be adults; local high school and college students; or eighth graders at San Francisco Day School. (SFDS seventh graders are also eligible to apply during their spring semester.)
Tutor applications will once again be accepted in the fall for positions starting in early October. To be contacted when the application is ready, please complete this brief form. Questions can be directed to Jenee Woo Scott, Director of Student Support. |
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Featured Tutors
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Featured Tutor: Louis
A sophomore at the University of San Francisco, Louis got involved with Breakthrough to satisfy the service learning component for his Organizational Behavior and Leadership class. He had tutored a family friend when he was younger. This, however, was his first time working with kids in a formal capacity. He’s found that he enjoys it.
“I like the system at Breakthrough a lot, how every tutor is assigned to three kids maximum, so there’s a lot of individual attention,” Louis says. “I haven’t seen too many programs that are so effectively structured. I also like that the kids get to take an enrichment class that really interests them.”
As a tutor, Louis has tried to build a comfortable relationship with each student, while still holding them accountable for working hard. He also tries to be thoughtful in the help that he provides. “When they don’t understand something, my approach is to break things down. What’s important is not just that they know how to do the particular problem, but that they understand the overall concept.” Each of his three tutees has a different personality and learning style, he’s found – but “they’re all very smart, and I enjoy working with all of them."
In addition to tutoring, Louis is co-teaching a Mandarin class with his USF classmate Xi. The goal is for their students to carry on a basic conversation by the end of the semester – a skill that may come in useful down the road.
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Featured Tutor: Cata
Cata first tutored with Breakthrough as a seventh grader at SF Day School. “At the time, I figured it would be an interesting thing to try,” she remembers. The experience was meaningful enough that Cata, now a ninth grader at Drew, is volunteering for the fourth straight semester.
“The students share a value of mine: learning,” she says. “As a tutor, I try to push my students to understand ‘why’ they are dividing this number or ‘why’ this part is the main idea. I try to challenge them with riddles and mind-bending problems.”
Watching her students make strides has been satisfying. Cata feels, however, that she has grown right alongside them.
“It’s not just the tutees who learn things,” she says. “Working with the Breakthrough students helps me understand the concepts I have learned in school at a much deeper level. I have enjoyed also interacting with different girls from schools across the city, in the classroom and on the roof, where they often beat me at tetherball and on the four-square court. My experiences at Breakthrough have changed my perspective on so many things.”
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