Who Can Be a Tutor?

• High School graduates who are 18 years of age or older.
• Individuals who have an interest in helping other adults reach educational goals and who are willing to participate in on-going training.
• Compassionate, patient, and respectful people with or without teaching experience.
• People who are regularly available for one full calendar year (12 consecutive months) with a predictable schedule.
• If you are a college student who is interested in volunteering but will not be here during the summer, please call our office at 277-6442 to discuss options.

What training time is required?

• Approximately 15 hours of initial training
• Initial training workshops are scheduled over a two month period.
• Additional training workshops as scheduled throughout the year.

Where do tutors meet with students?

At our office at 124 West Buffalo Street
or at public places convenient for our students, such as:

• Ithaca Wegman’s
• Groton Public Library
• Tompkins County Public Library
• Ulysses Philomathic Library in Trumansburg
• Newfield Public Library
• Lansing Community Library
• Southworth Library in Dryden
• Dryden Community Center Cafe

Tutor Job Description

• Work with your student(s) to establish, meet, and revise specific short-term and long-term goals.
• Meet with a small group or with individual students a minimum of 2 hours per week.
• Prepare own lessons and materials in advance of instruction time.
• Each month, sign up on a room assignment sheet.
• For each meeting, sign in and out (and remind students to do the same) in the sign-in book at the TLP office.
• Attend on-going training while matched with students or a group.
• Report cancellation of meeting to student and TLP office.
• Keep TLP informed of progress by submitting monthly report forms by the 5th of the next month.

To reserve your spot in our next volunteer orientation, send us a message by clicking Contact Us in the top right corner of the webpage and selecting “I want to be a volunteer” from the Category drop-down menu.

“ I am happy I met my tutor. When I came to Ithaca, I could speak in short sentences. Now I speak in longer sentences. I learned new vocabulary and all about American culture.”

Kyungjin, ESL Student

No Time to Volunteer?

If you are interested in contributing to our services but are unable to donate your time, consider donating some much-needed resources from our student and tutor wish list! Items include:

• Markers
• 3×5 note cards (lined or unlined)
• Composition books
• Spiral notebooks
• Wide-ruled loose leaf paper
• Eraser caps
• Sticky notes
• 3-ring binders
• 2-pocket folders
• Cardstock paper
• Metal rings (the kind that open and close for keeping index cards together)
• Subject dividers for 3-ring binders
• Blank sentence strips
• Store-bought flash card sets (math, vocabulary, etc.)
• #2 pencils
• Dry erase markers

Any and every contribution is appreciated!