As library officials report a steady increase in the number of students seeking homework help at local branches and other locations, one student would prefer to have it the opposite way.
Emily Pirzynski, an Ironwood Ridge High School junior, was one of the seven students who trickled in last week for the free service offered by the Oro Valley Public Library as part of the Pima County Public Library system's Homework Help program.
The Oro Valley branch, at 1305 W. Naranja Drive, is an affiliate of the county library system.
Pirzynski, 17, knows other students could benefit from the help, but she doesn't mind having the math tutor to herself when she goes in for pre-calculus help on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Tutoring at the Oro Valley location is offered from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.
People are also reading…
Pirzynski credits the service and tutor Dan Dutz with improving her grades.
"At the beginning of the year, I was having a lot of trouble in pre-calculus, and I came here," she said. "It helped a lot. And my grade raised."
Cheryl McCurry, a youth-services librarian at the Oro Valley library, has watched the program grow from a small group of students who made do with a corner of the library to a growing number of students taking advantage of the help in the separate teen area that opened early last year.
"We've really experienced an increase in the people that use it," McCurry said. "It is really an important service to provide."
In addition to the Oro Valley location, four other Northwest Side sites provide tutors for students in first through 12th grades.
Canyon del Oro High School, Coyote Trail Elementary School, the Geasa-Marana Library and the Nanini Library have volunteer tutors to help students with subjects such as pre-calculus and Spanish.
The number of students using the service varies at each site, but librarians agree that it should be provided whether it serves one student or 20.
Because the Marana Library is in a remote location, librarian Nancy Lindeman said, the number of students has not increased there during the last few years. That usually means the tutor can give undivided attention to a student seeking help. The library is at 13370 N. Lon Adams Road.
"She spends a lot of in-depth time with the folks she helps," Lindeman said about the tutor.
Dutz circled a table in the teen room last Thursday, helping elementary, middle and high school students decipher math problems.
His wife, Beverly, said she would like more students to come to her with questions.
"I always sit here and wait for someone to have a problem other than math," she said.
The couple are retired educators who volunteer Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"I tutor because I love students so much," Beverly Dutz said.
While her husband helps most of the students, Beverly can offer her experience in Spanish, French, English, biology and social studies.
Ironwood Ridge sophomore Michael Schlichting sought out Beverly Dutz's Spanish expertise as he worked on a fairy tale about a turtle named Rafael. Schlichting, 15, uses the service on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"It makes me do my homework," he said. "And I get better grades on my homework."
For more information
● Here are some other homework resources.
For online homework help, go to www.tppl.org/services/homework or call 791-4393 from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and ask for "homework help."
