THE
TUTOR
TIMES
February 2015
MEET
SPECIAL
POINTS OF
INTEREST:
 Take pictures of yourselves while tutoring
and send them in to
be featured in our
newsletter or on Twitter and Facebook.
 Have any friends
interested in EducationCorps? We’re
accepting applications on a rolling
basis!
YOUR
Volume 1, Issue 6
SITE
Rachel Gale (Monarch
School): Rachel is a second
year history major in Eleanor Roosevelt College. A
fun fact about her is that
she loves dolphins! Rachel
has been in EducationCorps for a year now. She
chose to become a tutor
because she loves learning
and wants to help students
enjoy it as well. She wants
to make a difference in
students’ lives and help
them achieve despite the
myriad challenges they may
face.
Gavin Shih (Serra High
School): Gavin is a third
year Biochemistry and Cell
Biology major in Thurgood
Marshall College. He’s been
in EducationCorps since it
OFFICERS
first started, meaning he is
on his third year with us.
Gavin has shared two fun
facts with us. The first is
that “besides teaching, I get
a kick out of practicing martial arts and dance.” He also
has fluctuating interest in
academic topics, and is
currently “obsessed with
organic chemistry, particularly in predicting reasonable reaction mechanisms.”
Gavin chose to become a
tutor because he strongly
believes in empowering
every individual with the
knowledge to see their life
with clarity, which further
empowers them to makes
decisions reflecting their
truest desires without being
left in the dark in any aspect. He further states,
“Everyone
much.”
deserves
this
--Now you’ve learned about
all thirteen of our current
site officers! If you’re interested in becoming a site
officer at one of our school
sites that still needs one,
you can ask current officers
about their experience, then
stop by the office or email
us to learn more.
IN THIS
ISSUE:
Meet Your Site
1
MLK DAY OF SERVICE:
PENCE ELEMENTARY
Officers
MLK Day of Service:
1
Pence Elementary
Tutor of the Month
2
Upcoming Events
2
News in Education
3
Skill Highlight
3
Birthdays
4
Tutor Humor
4
Announcements
4
For the 2015 MLK Jr. Day of
Service on January 18th,
UCSD partnered with Howard Pence Elementary school
in South Bay Union School
District. About 150 UCSD
students, staff, faculty, and
community members came
together with Pence Elementary’s principal, staff, students and families. They
worked on a variety of project, including painting murals, building birdhouses,
working on the school gar-
den,
making
valentines
for
local
seniors,
and decorating
EducationCorps volunteers and other members of
bricks
w i t h the San Diego community work together at Pence
Pence students.
Elementary.
After completing
their day of service, many
UCSD volunteers went on to
march in the MLK Day parade in downtown San Diego.
--Special thanks to Tiveeda
Stovall and Kristin Darnell
for putting an amazing
amount of time and effort
into making this day successful!
THE
TUTOR
TUTOR
M O N T H L Y
OF
Page 2
TIMES
THE
MONTH:
NO M I N A TI O N S
B Y
Mike started volunteering
with EducationCorps in fall
of 2014. He’s an active participant in our small community, including participating
in Monarch School’s Thanksgiving dinner and fall festival. Mike is currently tutoring
at Serra High School.
Mike Griffin, the February EducationCorps
Tutor of the Month!
E D U C AT I O N CO R P S
and everyone is capable of
succeeding with the proper
guidance and support, so
the possibility of helping
and inspiring someone to
succeed is exciting to me.
One of the best moments
for me was when a student
asked me about my own
experience with school. He
said, "You go to UCSD, what
were your SAT scores," and I
explained to him that I didn't get the highest GPA in
high school or have a great
SAT score, and I didn't get
into UCSD right out of high
school, but instead went to
community college first.
I'm a 4th year Computer
Science major in Warren
College. I've just started
tutoring for EdCorps this
quarter. A fun fact about
myself is I've developed 3
video games. I tutor with
Education Corps because I
believe education is one of
the most important things,
UPCOMING
F E L L O W
M E M BE R S
This was a student who is
towards the end of his high
school career and most
likely won't be able to get
into any colleges, so I felt
like I was able to show him
that by working hard in
community college he'll be
able to make it to a great
university.
------Want to nominate someone
for next month? Email us at
educationcorps@ucsd.edu
or let us know on Facebook
and Twitter!
“One of the best
moments for me
was when a
student asked me
about my own
experience with
school.”
EVENTS
Museum Month: Half Off Admission
February 1-28
45 museum locations
All Day
Hungry for Health: Salad in
a Jar
February 2
Come together with students, staff, faculty,
The Zone
and invited community guests to share informa2PM-2:45PM
tion and to explore how UCSD can better supFree Sexual Health Info
Sessions
February 2 & 3
Student Health Services,
Room 207
2PM-3PM & 10AM-11AM
Info Session: Social Justice
Careers in Washington
February 4
Women’s Center
12PM-1PM
Free Intro to ASL Classes
Begins February 6
San Diego Central Library
1PM
International Dance Festival
February 15
Balboa Park
12PM-5PM
Dream Big Conference
February 6
Price Center
8:30AM-3:45PM
Start Smart Salary Negotiation Workshop
February 19
Women’s Center
4:30PM-7:30PM
Darwin Day
February 10
PC West, Ballroom A
6PM-8PM
18th Annual Black History
Luncheon
February 11
Canyon Vista Restaurant
11AM-2PM
Free Singles/Couples Night:
Evening with Ruby Clouds
February 14
The Salty Frog
10PM
Potato Chip Hike (Outback
Adventures)
February 22
Poway
7AM
You Majored in What?:
Mapping Your Career Path
February 25
Cross-Cultural Center
2PM-3PM
Page 3
VOLUME
NEWS IN EDUCATION: CALIFORNIA
ENDING VACCINE EXEMPTIONS
In the light of the recent
measles outbreak in Orange County, California
lawmakers— including at
least one who is also a
pediatrician— introduced
new legislation yesterday
that would eliminate a
“personal belief exemption” that allows parents in
California school districts
to not vaccinate their children. Some politicians are
also pushing for an end to
the religious exemption as
well for the same reasons.
Despite the fact that the
scientist who presented
the initial claim that vaccination was linked to au-
TUTORING
TEACHING
SKILL
YOUNG
People with autism are
classified as neurodivergent, but many autistic
kids will spend at least
part of their school day in
a mostly-allistic classroom.
The most important thing
you can do is remember
that, while autistic people
often have certain sensitivities and particular
needs to be met, they
aren’t sick or in need of a
cure. If you don’t already
have experience working
with autistic individuals
(which you probably do,
but may not realize), here
are some things you can
do to help kids with autism
in your class:
1) Remember that every
autistic person has a
different set of traits &
experiences. Trying to
classify a child with
tism and chronic disease
was thoroughly discredited
by the scientific community, many celebrities and
now average parents have
taken an “anti-vaxxer” or
naturopath stance and
refused to get the standard required shots for
their children. This has
prompted strong responses from parents of
immuno-compromised
children, who are unable
to have vaccines because
of their bodies’ inability to
fight any kind of infection
or disease effectively.
These children rely on
herd immunity for survival,
1,
ISSUE
6
CONSIDERS
which their parents and
medical professionals
state is weakened by antivaxxers, whose children
may carry these diseases
that could infect and kill
immune-compromised
kids.
The state is experiencing
its worst measles outbreak A big step being taken in the fight to ensure
that herd immunity is maintained and anti in 20 years, which has
vaxxer’s bad science and implied prejudice
pushed this concern to the against the autistic and neurodivergent comforefront of the political
munities is put to rest.
landscape to the point that
Governor Jerry Brown has
signaled that he would
likely sign a bill ending
exemptions if it were to
come across his desk.
“California
HIGHLIGHT: TIPS FOR
STUDENTS WITH AUTISM
“high” or “low” functionality is useless at
best, harmful to your
interaction with them
at worst.
repetition) vary from
child to child, but also
within a child in different situations, stress
level, etc.
2) Focus on the child’s
interests.
6) View parents & teachers as partners.
3) Remember that novel
situations & people
can be overwhelming.
It helps to explain
what’s going to happen
beforehand & give
them warning of
changes (e.g. if you’ll
be missing a day).
7) Value the uniqueness
of each child.
4) Any focus on social
skills should not be
compliance-based or
training the child to act
more neurotypically.
5) Communication abilities & methods (e.g.
spoken, written, ASL,
lawmakers… are
moving to introduce
new legislation that
will eliminate a
“personal belief
exemption” that
allows parents in
California school
districts to not
vaccinate their
children”
8) Remember there is no
single method that will
work with every child.
9) You should be learning
about autism from
autistic people, including kids you work with.
--Adapted from Gryphon
House with feedback from
members of the autistic
community. See
http://ollibean.com/2012
/12/20/my-top-ten/ for
more tips.
There are many students with a
variety of learning disabilities
that present unique challenges
to their academic success
Page 4
VOLUME
1,
ISSUE
6
BIRTHDAYS
Happy birthday to all our
tutors with February birthdays, including VISTA coordinator Tassandra!
Freya Li - February 13
Tassandra Rios-ScelsoFebruary 1
Ellen Hendricks - February
23
Eddie Tapia - February 5
Be sure to wish everyone a
happy birthday if you run
into them or have a second to post it to their Facebook wall!
Bretney Alhambra - February 7
Cara Mae Acibo - February
11
Jasmine Zamora - February 11
TUTOR
Moeko Hirai - February 18
Let us know and we’ll put
you on next month’s newsletter!
Tiffany Thieu - February 20
Shout-out to all our January birthdays!
Hope you enjoyed your winter break!
--Did we miss your birthday?
HUMOR
S C H O O L - S AF E J O KE S
S T O R I E S S U B M I T T E D
A series of terrible puns
What do you call a nosy
pepper? Jalapeño business.
You’re living, you occupy
space, and you have
mass. You know what that
means? You matter.
Why is Peter Pan always
flying? He neverlands.
What did Dr. Watson say
about Sherlock? There’s
no-police like Holmes.
T O
B Y
T E L L Y O UR
T U T O R S
S T U DE N T S
A N D
F U N N Y
Why does Waldo wear
stripes? Because he doesn’t want to be spotted.
Why are skeletons so
calm? Because nothing
gets under their skin.
What’s the difference between a poorly dressed
man on a tricycle and a
well dressed man on a
bicycle? Attire.
The anti-jokes
How are bad grades like a
sinking ship? They are
both below C-level.
What did the pirate say on
his 80th birthday? Aye
matey!
What did Batman say to
Robin before they got in
the car? Get in the car.
“You’re living, you
occupy space, and
you have mass. You
know what that
means? You
matter.
I still remember the last
words my grandfather said
before he kicked the
bucket. He said, “Hey, how
far do you think I can kick
this bucket?”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Seeking New School Site
Officers: Interested in getting more involved at a
school site? Montgomery
Middle School, Baker Elementary, and Bell Middle
School all need Site Officers!
Applications are also being
accepted for potential new
school sites. Contact educationcorps@ucsd.edu for
information on how to
apply.
tstovall@ucsd.edu for more
information.
Campus Partnerships
With your community service hours through EducationCorps you could become a Presidential Service Learning Scholar!
Scholars are nationally
recognized for the service
they do in their community.
Contact Tiveeda Stovall at
TTACS is hiring two more
drivers! If you know anyone
over the age of 21 with a
driving record of at least
two years, tell them to
check Port Triton for more
information.
Terrible puns might make some of
your students groan, but your humor may help them loosen up and
become more comfortable with you.