By Alex Ortal, Kapi’o Staff Writer
This fall, tutoring services formerly offered at the Kahikoluamea Center combined with the Aloha Writers Kiosk to form the Study Hub, a centralized resource that provides free math and English tutoring to Kapi‘olani Community College students.
The Study Hub is located in Lama Library and is staffed by faculty volunteers and student mentors.
David Uedoi (right) working with a student writer
“We started this program because we have learned that a lot of students need help for their classes, particularly in math,” said Joy Oehler, an information literacy librarian. “And the good thing about this program is that it’s free for all students.”
The program is funded by Title III Grant, which, according to the United States Department of Education, “helps eligible Institutions of Higher Education to become self-sufficient and expand their capacity to serve low-income students by providing funds to improve and strengthen the academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability of eligible institutions.”
Reference librarian Susan Weber said that the Study Hub is a true campus initiative.
“The campus’s motto is ‘Kūlia I Ka Nu‘u’ which means ‘Strive for the Highest,’” she said. “And that’s what we’re doing here. That was why the Study Hub has opened.”
The math team includes faculty members Carl Wheeler, Grace Williams and Justin Toyofuku and a select group of students who have excelled in math classes in the past. Tutoring covers everything from elementary algebra to calculus.
The Writing team is led by faculty volunteers Beau Ewan, David Uedoi, Davin Kubota, Jacquelyn Chappel, Jill Abbott, Lisa Kanae, and Porscha dela Fuente and also includes a select group of student mentors.
While writing tutors do not re-write papers or fix grammatical errors, they will guide students in how to improve their papers and identify and correct their own grammatical problems.
“People who are going to the Study Hub are not necessarily failing their classes,” Oehlers said. “Some are A and B students, but they just want to be better, to do better in their classes.”
In its first semester of operations, the Study Hub has already helped hundreds of students. From October 14 to November 10, the Hub hosted 494 mentoring sessions, of which 269 for writing and 225 for math.
The Study Hub has proved valuable to student mentors as well as the students they help.
“Me helping them helps me,” said student mentor Robert Scimeca. “It’s like I’m rediscovering what I have learned from the past.”
Math Tutoring
Mondays and Wednesdays: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fridays: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturdays: 9 to 11 a.m.
Writing Tutoring
Mondays and Wednesdays: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fridays: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturdays: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.