Peer Tutoring Program Gets High Marks

T.C. Williams Honor Students Help Immigrants With English, Homework

Krishna Leyva, with sophomore Oscar Vasquez, is the tough and loving director of the tutoring program. (James A. Parcell - Twp)

Three students -- a boy and two girls -- sat around a table in the T.C. Williams High School library one recent afternoon after classes. They chatted amiably, griping about their teachers and comparing notes on which new movies to see.

The small gathering was nothing short of extraordinary, school officials say.

Sophomore Diego Torregon came to T.C. Williams from Peru a little over a year ago. Seniors Annie Silverwood and Samantha Berg are National Honor Society members who come to the library to give students new to the country a chance to practice their English while also helping them with their homework.

"Oh, my gosh, your English is so good," Berg said to Torregon. "I've been in German since sixth grade and can't speak [it] as well as you do [English]."

One table away, senior Cecilia Lopez helped another new student understand her English grammar homework -- something that minutes before had seemed a hopeless muddle. Two years ago, fresh from Uruguay, Lopez had been on the other end, feeling overwhelmed, isolated and in need of extra help.

"I see so much of myself reflected in them," Lopez said.

Now, Lopez is in the National Honor Society and is president of the school's Latin American Student Society. She is also pursuing her dream of going to college. She has already been accepted to the University of Texas and the University of Richmond. She's waiting to hear from Harvard and Yale.

The simple conversations between the new students and their tutors are part of an intensive after-school program that school officials say is making a big difference.

The program is called Building Better Futures, and it is run by the nonprofit group Bienvenidos, a human services organization that supports the Latino community in Alexandria. It is funded by a grant from the nonprofit Campagna Center of Alexandria and other funds.

The initiative has lofty goals. Bienvenidos began the program two years ago when it discovered that most of the city's tutoring programs were for elementary school children. There was little for newly arrived high school students, and school officials were concerned about how the students would perform on high-stakes standardized tests.

The program aims to reduce the number of Latino students who make poor grades, get pregnant, drop out of school or end up in gangs. Its goal is to increase the number of Latino students who graduate from T.C. and prepare more of them for a successful college experience or rewarding career. Program officials focus on increasing English proficiency, improving school performance, enhancing social skills, raising self-esteem and increasing parent involvement.

It works, they say.