Monta Vista High School SBS Tutoring Program

The SBS Office is located in the library. It is equipped with a PC installed with all the necessary MVHS and Microsoft Office applications.

Study Buddy Society (SBS) Tutoring Program at MVHS was initiated by a parent several years back. And currently it is run and coordinated, on a voluntary basis, by four mothers - including me! It may soon be reduced to just me and another lady. Mary - the Taiwanese lady with the twins I story-ed in my previous posting - has gotten a job at her friend's company and might not be available for the voluntary work anymore. The red flower-like daisies remind me of the 'straw flowers' which used to be a craze some many2 years ago.. Doris and Seema would also be leaving since their sons are now seniors and will be graduating this coming June. The two ladies have been coordinating the program ever since their boys were in freshmen year. I was Doris's 'intern' only for a few days before the ex - HP Director (also originates from Taiwan) decided to let me hold the 'fort' on my own. Doris is a wonderful trainer - I've never met anyone who is so 'systematic' as her. This picture was taken several weeks back... right now pokok2 yang 'togel' ni dah berdaun banyak..At first I was quite overwhelmed with the amount of work that the SBS Office has to handle. But, like all other jobs and everything else in life, we will get the 'hang of it' once we set our mind into it! Anyway, the workload is made easy by sharing them among us ... I just pray it won't be 'warm-warm chicken shit' for me...:-) Working on the office application files (excel, word) and email-ing is nothing new. But, when the students come in with their queries or when conducting workshops for the students on the program or even when talking to the teachers..... time tu lah lidah jadi berbelit2! Intonasi pun jadi tunggang langgang ... he..he.. Where can speak 'Manglish' waaan... using our famous fillers like... lah.. maa... will make them even more 'confuse'. If we pronounce it the way we normally do ( the British way, lah ) dia orang tak paham, but when we roll our 'Rs' ... and 'Ds' our 'Ts' ... or cakap sengau2 through our noses ..... paham pulaak.. Yang pelik tuu, most of them bukan nya 'mat salleh' pun.... almost 70% of the MVHS students are of Asian heritage! This tree on the left is on top of a hilly ground.. with all the leaves it's having now, it looks so biig, strong... and shady! Even Doris & Seema yang bertahun2 tinggal disini pun masih ada slang from their mother-land. Mary on the other hand is now taking a course in 'speaking'. That sweet lady ( who looks more like a Japanese rather than a Taiwanese ) doesn't even want to pick up any phone calls and just let me handle them instead. I will miss her when she's no more with the SBS Office. I remember the times when she'll pick me up or even send me back home. Once, I had tea at her apartment while both of us waited for our children to finish their tutoring class. Her twin boys Jonathan & Eric are in the same tutoring class as Atiqah. And according to Atiqah, the twins are cheeky ( selalu kena usik la tuu.. !) and asyik cakap cina jer..:-) Tutoring classes are held after school from 3.15 till 4.15pm and theirs are every Mondays & Wednesdays; the days which I pick to be at the SBS Office too. There are 8 tutoring classes with not more than 10pairs of students and a host teacher in every class. The teacher doesn't do anything much, just take attendance and supervise the students. Their overtime will be paid by the school district and as proof, SBS Office compiles the students attendance and forward to the school district every month. On the right bunga pokok pear... At the bottom, bunga pokok apple.... at the moment, pokok2 ni kat belakang rumah dah ber-putik... banyak sungguh bees..! Must be sweet.... Anyway..., students with GPA 3.5 and above are eligible to be Tutors. They are matched with the Tutees on a 1 to 1 basis depending on the subjects which the Tutees need help with. At the end of the year, SBS Office will provide the necessary recommendations and credentials; which is going to be of added value in the Tutor's College applications. On the other hand, with assistance from their peers or seniors, the Tutees academic performance will hopefully improve. Currently there are over 100 Tutees but the number will dwindle as a few will be dropped from the program for bad attendance or just plain not interested! Usually parents ( yours truly included ) are the ones that urge their children to attend the tutoring program. After all the SBS Tutoring Program is free! Other Tutoring classes out there cost around 60 to 70 dollars an hour! In addition to the SBS Tutoring Program, Atiqah is also home tuitioned by one of MV Senior whom we pay $15 an hour. Cyonee Mukhopathaya comes every Tuesdays and Thursdays. Dah terpaksa, kalau tidak dia akan asyik tengok YouTube drama Korea or even Akademi Fantasia yang sikit pun tidak memberi apa2 pembelajaran. Alhamdulillah, her results are beginning to look more promising and I am hoping to see her achieving GPA of 3.5 and higher.

InsyaAllah...