Beloit College students climbed the stairs to Pearsons Hall on a snowy Monday after Thanksgiving break. The chill in the air disappeared with the warm invitation from LEADS student workers who organized the fall semester’s tutor appreciation event, which included games and showcased LEADS’ welcoming atmosphere and adaptive engagement.

“You got it!” cheered May Zaw ’27, LEADS academic enrichment activities learning assistant, as she motioned the next student forward to the table to guess the next song title from a series of emojis.

Some students came and went quickly from the table; others lingered, turning over paper after paper. While they were playing, someone was always paying attention. “You don’t have to be struggling to get help,” said a previous tutee still involved with LEADS.

“And it’s not always formal, some just need a study buddy, to be held accountable,“ added Dariya Kylyshpay ’28. Dariya trains the tutors, increasing their skills through fun activities like a scavenger hunt in the library and one-on-one check-ins that include games like Kahoot. Her support and guidance ensures that tutors have the tools they need and don’t feel overwhelmed. “It’s a hard job,” she said. “They spend so much time with tutees, worrying about them, how they’re doing, how their academic journey is going, how they’re feeling.”

LEADS provides two types of tutoring. Peer Academic Support Services (PASS) is drop-in, course-specific tutoring for high-demand subjects. Additionally, tutees can request a tutor for any subject or organizational tutoring through My Beloit. Tutors are recommended by faculty and staff and need to have completed one semester. LEADS employs up to 45 tutors each semester.

“I like the projects, like creating presentations for specific things the tutees want to learn, and you get to know someone new,” says LEADS tutor Vivianne Prerost ’28.

Tutees have a positive impact on their tutors, tutors have a positive impact on their tutees, and overall access to learning support increases across campus as a result of their engagement.

“We really rely on our student workers,” says Kathryn Ortiz Cussen, Learning Enrichment & Disability Services department coordinator. “Working with each other contextualizes the content in a way they understand. They are great young adults who work hard. It’s nice to see the way they like to share and invest in each other.”

Successful tutors demonstrate qualities such as being accommodating with their time, using new teaching strategies to break down complex problems, and checking that students understand material. As a group, the tutors and tutees select the Tutor of the Term. The LEADS office reaches out to those who received tutoring and encourages them to nominate their tutor. Nominators complete a form that describes how their tutor made a positive impact on their learning, the qualities or skills they have that make them exceptional, and how they assisted them to achieve their goals or improve their organizational skills.

This year’s Tutor of the Term was Serena Chen ’26, a computer science major and marketing minor. Serena exemplified patience, positivity, and flexibility. “She always came into tutoring with a great spirit and made sure I was comfortable,” one nominator says.

Dariya reiterated the importance of appreciation while handing out gift bags that included a thank you letter, stress relievers, and candy. Gift bags in hand, students continued to play the game, looking over each other’s shoulders, calling out possible solutions to the next series of emojis.

“I don’t know if this is a song title, but Dynamite?” one student guessed.

May nodded and held out a prize, another peer-to-peer success.