How a 17-year-old volunteer in Texas became an 8-year-old's reason to love math
Thiago is 8 years old and was struggling with math. His family connected with Learn To Be through School On Wheels, an organization that supports children and families experiencing housing insecurity.
He was matched with Ariv, a 17-year-old high school junior in Texas who had joined his school's Learn To Be chapter as a volunteer tutor. No pay. No course credit. Thiago was his very first student.
Within hours of the match on May 6th, Ariv sent his intro message. Rosa, Thiago's mom, replied immediately. By the next afternoon, they had their first session.
Then they met again. And again.
When Ariv got hired as a lifeguard and his schedule tightened, he messaged Rosa to rearrange their sessions. Rosa wrote back:
They kept finding times that worked. When Rosa missed a Saturday session, she messaged right away:
When Ariv forgot to log on one afternoon, he offered to run the session immediately:
On another day, Rosa offered to pull Thiago out of school early so they could fit in a session before her own appointment:
After three weeks of sessions, Rosa messaged Ariv directly:
Once again thank you for your help. I've seen Thiago's confidence go up after these sessions. So I know this has helped him a lot. We really appreciate your support and help.
He's 17.
Each hour of tutoring on Learn To Be costs roughly $5 to deliver. Thiago and Ariv's ten and a half hours together cost about $50.
Ariv is still Thiago's tutor. He's still volunteering between lifeguard shifts. And Thiago is still logging on.