FREE Math Tutoring for Gr. 6-12 Students

Students at Deer Lakes middle and high schools who find themselves stumped by a math problem can now get the help they need simply by picking up the phone and calling the Penn State New Kensington Homework Hotline: 724-334-6007.

After an initial eight-month test, the Penn State New Kensington’s Homework Hotline, geared toward students in grades 6-12, is being expanded to more districts as interest in the free service grows.

The hotline is a Penn State initiative that had previously provided free math tutoring to students in the Burrell, Fox Chapel, Highlands, New Kensington-Arnold and Plum school districts. Beginning in December, Franklin Regional, Kiski Area, Leechburg, South Butler, Woodland Hills and Deer Lakes districts were be added to the program. Science courses will be added as the program expands.

Here’s how it works: Participating school districts provide the Penn State New Kensington tutors with textbooks used by its students. A student can then call the number provided by the school district and a tutor will answer. Penn State’s Berks and Schuylkill campuses offer a similar service.

“The students give his or her first name,” said Colleen Smith, science, technology, engineering and math outreach coordinator at Penn State New Kensington.. “The tutor then asks what school they are calling from and what the textbook looks like.”

The tutor, who is a Penn State New Kensington student, and the caller then go to the page where the math problem is located and solve it together. Mostly middle school students have used the helpline so far, and the typical call runs 15 minutes, Ms. Smith said.

The hotline program is designed by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, an engineering, science and mathematics school in Terre Haute, Ind.

The tutors who have worked on the hotline are paid for their time and gain valuable experience, which will benefit them when looking for a job, she said. The tutors work under the direction of Julie Wolfe and Jenn Motosicky, who both teach math at Highlands High School, as well as Dave LaSota, student support specialist at the Boyce campus of Community College of Allegheny County.