Professional Reading #13

Associated Press. (2011, March 18). “Young Math Whiz Helps Students to ‘Get It.’” Retrieved from: http://www.tweentribune.com/content/young-math-whiz-helps-students-get-it

This article is about a 12 year-old boy named Sandeep who is taking his love for math, something he enjoys working hard at, and using it to help others around his own age. He offered to provide his tutoring services in a program called the “After School Math Club” at his local library. The idea was his own and one he came up with after seeing his friends struggle with math. He was able to help these friends have a better understanding of math, which led him to volunteering at the library to a broader group of kids. Not only does he offer homework help, Sandeep provides grade appropriate worksheets he creates himself and then helps the kids work through him. At the time of the article Sandeep had 10 attendees to his math club, ranging in ages from 3rd to 6th graders.

Of course this article is incredibly inspiring and it shows the awareness of others that arises in kids when they hit their tweens. Sandeep developed an empathy for his classmates who were struggling with math, something he enjoyed. He took these feelings and did something with it. We have a tendency to get lost in the overwhelming media of cyberbully and sexting tweens and lose sight of the good that can come out of tweens. Their growing awareness for those around them, some take this and do harm, such as bullying, but others use it for good. I also am slightly tired of reading articles about tweens who write incredible blogs, or have their own clothing lines. I want to read more articles like this one, about kids who use their talent not for glory, but to help others their own age. Kudos to Sandeep and others like him, I hope to continue finding articles similar to this one.