Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation awards South Tahoe High student mentors

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Twenty South Tahoe High School students who served as mentors in the inaugural "Connect, Engage, Succeed" program this school year were awarded $12,500 in scholarships from the Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation (LTEF).

LTEF partnered with the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) and Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) to identify and train volunteer high school coaches/mentors and match them with elementary and middle school students who were struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic distance learning format.

Mentors enrolled in an online LTCC class to learn how to coach younger students and were then paired with a cohort of 2nd-8th graders. They met remotely to provide individualized tutoring and social/emotional support. Retired teachers, such as LTEF board member Bob Comlossy, volunteered to give advice to the student coaches.

The following STHS student mentors completed the program and were awarded scholarships: Alexa Galicia Llamas, Alexa Kwachak Hall, Andrea Zavala, Erin Yamaoka, Khushi Panchal, Kiara Furrer, Noosa Higgins, Phoebe Bitzer, Sadie Laster, Sage Smith, Aspen Smith, Chase Mosedale, Christopher Lilly, Corinne Goldberg, Darlene Tumbaga, Jenna Kalik, Juan Moreno, Kerianne Bourdu, Phoebe Barkann, and
Tovah Jordan.

“I really enjoyed all that I learned and experienced as a part of the peer tutoring program," said STHS Junior Corrine Goldberg. "At times it was challenging, but it was extremely rewarding when I got to interact with parents and students. I am inspired to continue working as a mentor and to hopefully be
able to support more students academically.”

“Something I learned from my time as a tutor is that grades truly do not define how smart a student is," Erin Yamaoka, an STHS Sophomore, observed. "From being able to help my students and teach them in a way that is most effective for them, I have seen how smart, inquisitive, and willing to learn these students are, regardless of if their grades are As or Fs.”

The program is anticipated to be extended for the next school year to continue to help in students’ educational recovery. According to Elizabeth Loudon, the LTCC dual enrollment and outreach coordinator who assisted in building this pilot, “We are very excited to extend this program further into the high school. In addition to honing our current program, it is likely that we will also work with South Tahoe High Two-Way Immersion (TWI) students to offer bilingual embedded tutor/coaches for high school courses next year.”

LTEF gratefully acknowledged generous grants from the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority/American Century Golf Tournament and the El Dorado Community Foundation, which helped fund this program.

Anyone wishing to contribute to this program, or to find out more information about LTEF, can visit https://www.ltedf.org/.