Emery/Weiner’s Math Lab Offers a Safe Place for Students to Receive Math Help

A relatively recent addition to The Emery/Weiner School, the Math Lab is quickly becoming the number one workplace for students to receive math help on campus. Open during study halls and free periods, the Math Lab offers guidance from Math Mentor students, NHS members, and teachers all intent on empowering students to fully understand math concepts of all levels. 

While tutoring around the school is not new, an established location with organized time slots and available tutors definitely is. In the past, these tutoring services were run by Emery’s National Honor Society, made up of upperclassmen who offered assistance on most subjects. However, since math contains such a variety of topics, last school year, teachers Ms. Gaudet and Mr. Guidry decided to create the Math Lab, geared towards supplying students with the extra math help they need. 

It was a slow start, especially bouncing back from a COVID-19 year, but towards the end of the second semester, the teachers, along with senior Brooke Lee, the student supervisor for the Math Lab, took steps to create a much more organized system for the following year, turning over a new leaf for math tutoring at Emery. 

Thanks to their hard work, the Math Lab has even found a permanent home. With whiteboards built into its walls and an array of mobile desks, the room is growing into the perfect space for collaboration, exploration, and learning. Additionally, there is an IPad stationed in the room for students to mark their attendance, allowing student instructors to keep track of their shifts. 

The instructors consist of NHS members and Math Mentors. With Brooke’s help, NHS members began signing up for tutoring in the Math Lab, finding it a great way to earn their scholarship service hours. However, in order to secure a fixed group of tutors, Ms. Gaudet worked closely with the president of the Math Club, Annie Liu, to add a program called Math Mentors. This position, open exclusively to members of the Math Club, is made up of hardworking students committed to helping out multiple shifts per month. This combination of students, paired with the math teachers creates the perfect support team for any student to come in and learn.

According to Brooke, the purpose of the Math Lab is to “help kids, in general, feel more confident in math.” In her earlier high school years, Brooke mentions that she would have really appreciated a space to “just be there,” relieving the pressure that comes with seeking help independently. 

“Office hours can get really crowded, and to get one-on-one help is really difficult,” Ms. Gaudet explains. Instead of watching a YouTube tutorial or staring at an answer key, Gaudet adds that one of the best learning methods the Math Lab upholds is to just “hold hands and go along the way together,” building a full understanding of a concept step by step. 

The Math Lab’s goal of allowing students on both sides of the learning process to master material, build teamwork skills, and explore all kinds of solving methods puts high schoolers on a path toward truly enjoying math. That is by far more than any trip to office hours can offer!