Climbing out of the homework hole

Maybe you dozed off in class one day. Maybe you're distracted by your growling stomach or perhaps thinking about a fight you had with your parents.

Whatever the reason, you miss most of the lesson and discover the night's homework appears to be written in a foreign language.

And because you don't understand that part of the lesson, you're probably confused by the next part and the next part and the next part.

Before you know it, you've got a less-than-pleasing grade to take home to mom and pop.

It's a slippery slope that many high school students find themselves sliding down at some point in their academic careers. What most don't realize is there's a way to slam on the brakes before you hit rock bottom: Seek help.

The process is fairly simple, and it's free. Local high schools offer tutoring services before and after school in most core subjects.

At Central High School, transportation is even provided one day a week and breakfast is served during the 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. session each day.

The service is paid for through a 21st Century grant and is coordinated by Central librarian Julia Jorgensen. Math, science and English teachers rotate through the week to provide help to students.

Showing up at the last minute won't cut it though, said Jorgensen.

"Procrastination is alive and well today," said Jorgensen. "Students typically wait until the morning of a test to seek help. They tend to wait too long, and you can't bring up a really, really low grade though you turn on all the jets."

The key to successful tutoring is catching potential problems early.

Jorgensen recommends attending the tutoring sessions any time a new chapter is introduced or an essay is assigned, just to make sure "you have that foundation down or understand what the end product is supposed to be," she said.

Jackson High School offers free homework help in math, science, English, history and foreign language via a peer tutoring service before or after school. The school also offers group tutoring after school.

It's not enough to just show up for the sessions, however.

"With the one-on-one tutoring, we've found that the student has to want to do the tutoring and accept it from a peer for it to work," said Sarah Nussbaum, a counselor at Jackson.

Nussbaum said this is the time of the year -- around the time the first major tests of the semester are given -- when students begin to realize they need help with school work.

"There shouldn't be any stigma attached to it. Even students in trigonometry and college algebra need help before a test, just to have a person to review with," said Nussbaum.

Outside of tutoring, Nussbaum says students should consider their time management and organizational skills when it comes to improving homework grades.

"And listen in class," she advised.

cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128