Have you ever needed to lean on a classmate to help you with a homework problem or been asked for your assistance on a difficult project? Then, you’ll understand the values that Best of West is based upon. Advised by Kerri Barnhouse, an English teacher, Best of West is a club where students volunteer their time to help their peers with their schoolwork during AFT.
Best of West began through Barnhouse often being faced with students needing assistance with work that she couldn’t help with, so she found students willing to help their peers instead.
“Certainly teachers help kids, but there are way more kids than there are teachers, and why does it have to be ‘Ms. Barnhouse really helped me,’? Why can’t it be, ‘Sigrid Rossi really helped me, she was so nice to me,’ right? Why can’t it be another kid?” Barnhouse said.
[The volunteers] don’t do their homework for them; the idea is that you help,
— Kerri Barnhouse
Once AFT begins, student volunteers move to their respective classrooms. Some head upstairs from Barnhouse’s room to assist with Algebra or Geometry, while others move to the room of Katy Nahra, a fellow English teacher, to assist with English work. Still others remain in Barnhouse’s classroom to volunteer. From there, volunteers work one-on-one with the students they’re paired with, helping them through their work.
“[The volunteers] don’t do their homework for them; the idea is that you help,” Barnhouse said.
The volunteers ask those they are working with questions, breaking down the schoolwork. Some even make up their own explanations for the work, teaching fellow students how to do it independently. The environment is far from judgmental, and laughter is audible from both volunteers and their peers.
“Kids come back, and they’re like, ‘I got an A on my test!’ and they’re so happy, and that’s the idea behind it.” Barnhouse said.
Many of the club’s volunteers are veteran volunteers, such as Sigrid Rossi ’24. Rossi joined in the third trimester of last year and got involved through her friends and Barnhouse advertising the club.
“I think it really unravels the competitive attitude within the school. I think students can be more willing and comfortable to ask for help and not be so ashamed of not knowing the answers right away,” Rossi said, explaining what impact she believes the club has on West.
The club has learned a lot since its founding last year and continues to grow.
“We kind of hit the ground running this year by already having all of our tutors prepped and willing, intentionally signed up for this AFT to be available for help,” Rossi said.
I think it really unravels the competitive attitude within the school. I think students can be more willing and comfortable to ask for help and not be so ashamed of not knowing the answers right away,
— Sigrid Rossi
Best of West has also allowed for unexpected connections between students as students meet new people.
“You usually don’t tutor people you’re in classes with, you’ve usually already completed the class, or there might be a couple of grade levels between you guys,” Rossi said, “Just talking to new people, people have such fun personalities. I remember one time I was tutoring this kid, and it’s silly, he stole my pencil, but I feel like I taught him the Pythagorean theorem which, fair trade.”
Though it may feel intimidating to ask for help, even the volunteers admit they are still learning. Rossi explained that while she often tutors students for Geometry, she has only taken a single trimester of the course.
“I get really intimidated to tutor kids in Geometry because I don’t want to give them bad information or incomplete information. So sometimes even I feel scared like, ‘Oh, I need to ask for help, and I’m supposed to be an all-known figure,’ but I’m known for just asking everyone else [questions] also, tutoring myself while tutoring other people,” Rossi said, showing how the club allows for learning experiences on both sides of the desk.
West High students can get involved with Best of West through their website, both as student volunteers or as students looking for assistance.
Barnhouse summed the club up nicely, saying, “We have the nicest kids in the school, and they are so willing to be helpful, but it’s hard. Sometimes they don’t know people need their help because a lot of people are afraid to ask for help. So we [are called] the Best of West because we think we are our best when we can help and we do, and we think we’re at our best when we ask for help when we need it.”
