Every parent wants to see their child succeed in school. For most of us, this translates into countless hours helping them with their homework. At first, it seems simple enough. Color a few things, counting, matching, and the basics. Then, comes that epic day when your middle-schooler needs help with their algebra homework. If you’ve never seen common core math, then you’ve been spared from hours of trying to figure out why simple multiplication resembles quantum physics. It’s not about adding and subtracting anymore, and even the right answer is wrong if it isn’t found in the right way.
Confused yet? Imagine how your kids feel.
At the Student Den, we’ve made it our mission to make the learning process easier for everyone. No more frustrating conversations about missing assignments or the stress that comes with forcing your kid to sit down and finish their homework. It’s this mindset that’s led to the creation of EmpowerMates—an innovative new system fostering cooperation and peer development.
EmpowerMates are made up of 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade local high school students with strong academic backgrounds and a reputation for emotional maturity. Many are honor students, and all of them are driven to use their talents to help others. EmpowerMates are matched up with students at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels that need a little more attention and guidance to reach their full potential. These students understand the work and know how to make it more accessible to others. When a child isn’t doing well in a subject, it’s fair to assume that they aren’t enjoying it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to force them to focus on that subject for an hour and a half with a complete stranger. This makes tutoring feel more like a punishment than a way to help.
The Student Den does things differently. We take a more holistic approach to learning and believe in strengthening a student’s knowledge in multiple areas. This allows them to improve where necessary, and to thrive where they’re already doing well. Instead of an hour and a half spent doing something that they dread, an EmpowerMate turns that hour and a half into a positive learning experience.
Each of our EmpowerMates has successfully completed anywhere from 14-20 different high school classes within the last three years. We know that you wouldn’t trust your children with just anyone, and we choose the teens we work with carefully. We promise that your kids won’t come home with multiple piercings and blue hair (unless they showed up that way). These teens know the ropes and understand how to navigate the curriculum in a way that makes more sense. Because of this, they’re capable of coaching a student in nearly every subject. Many of our EmpowerMates may have also had the same instructors as the students that they coach—giving them an advantage when it comes to difficult teachers. Kids battle a lot of distractions. If you’ve ever tried to pry a cell phone from a teenage girl’s hands—and lived to talk about it—then you understand what they’re up against. Between the television, smartphones, tablets, video games, and computers, getting homework done may not rank high on their list of priorities.
