AGHS offers a variety of classes, one of which is The Special Education (SPED) Teaching Assistant Program, also known as peer tutoring. Students can choose to dedicate a class period to aiding special education students in their classes.
“[Peer tutors] either sit next to [students] and help them pay attention to the lesson [or] if [students] earned whatever they were working for, then [peer tutors] hang out with them and talk to them, which helps them with their communication skills,” Special Education teacher Ashley Sarmento said.
Being a peer tutor in a special education class goes beyond helping with in-class activities. SPED classes are often separated from the general education classes, and by allowing both worlds to work together gives students a sense of normalcy.
“[Peer tutoring] is great for varying abilities, and good for the students in [SPED] classes because they’re working with their peers,” Academic Seminar teacher Kaetlin Jensen said. “I feel like students working with peers learn a lot because it’s one thing to hear an adult say something, but it’s another thing to hear somebody your own age say something.”
Peer tutoring benefits both students and tutors. Tutors find that helping in SPED classes introduces them to new people and creates everlasting friendships.
“I learned a lot about what it’s like to work with SPED kids, past just being their friend,” Brooklyn Hause (‘25) said. “I learned how to tutor them, [and] the friendships I made in that class were so genuine.”
Anyone can sign up to be a peer tutor at AGHS, though students interested in joining should understand that no one person works the same way as everyone else.
“[Good TAs are] students that are willing to jump in and work with the students that are in [a SPED] class,” Sarmento said. “Being sociable, nice, helpful, friendly, caring, [and] understanding [too]. Understanding that my students don’t always do things the same way as everyone else and that it’s okay.”
Peer tutors find that as they help students they learn that not everybody learns the same and create genuine friendships. Being a peer tutor requires a student who accepts others, and is willing to learn and grow with their classmates.
“I was really close with a kid who had a mental disability,” Hause said. “I had a lot of empathy for them, and I really enjoyed hanging out [and getting to know them]and doing what I can to help them.”
To sign up as a peer tutor, ask a counselor during scheduling, or through email, to be added.
