Established July 2023
My Tutor Connections is an organization that focuses on the needs of students. We want to make connections between qualified tutors and struggling students and between students and educational concepts. Every student can succeed with the right connections. Due to Covid, many students are behind where they should be. It is essential for families to get the correct help for students to get back on and maintain proper grade levels for a successful future.
Founder's Story
My name is Robyn Bell. I have a wonderful husband and two amazing children. I have always loved children, starting out as a camp counselor and volunteer with Girl Scouts in high school. Later in college, I studied education and became a preschool teacher and nanny. I graduated with my master’s in education while pregnant with my daughter. I continued to work in preschool while she was very little, but it became clear that my calling was not with the littles, but with older children.
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I spent a good decade working with high school students in and out of the classroom. I taught mathematics of all levels and worked within student services, helping to make sure students had all the skills and courses they needed to graduate and beyond. In addition to working and raising my children, I went back to school for my Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Within my program, my eyes were opened to everything going on in public schools, and I realized that students are not getting what they need.
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When an incident with my daughter occurred at her school and the administration decided to ignore it instead of dealing with it, I realized why it is so dangerous for students to be in public school and withdrew her immediately. Public school is not for everyone or every family. It is lacking instruction in life skills such as conflict resolution and appropriate social interactions. School is the frontline to combat violence. My daughter lost out on some great educational opportunities in how to deal with conflict situations without the use of violence.
As a mother, I want the best for my child and public school was no longer that. The school system is not keeping up with the things students need most. Real life skills, study tools and habits, critical thinking, and goal setting. Content is important, but teachers are so stressed about getting kids to learn the content that many get burnt out from classroom management problems and student refusals to work. It always falls back on the teacher, but what is the solution?
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I am a firm believer in if you see something, say something especially in a school. I am tired of not being heard when there is something that needs to be changed, fixed, or studied. Older students are suffering right now. They are in middle school and high school in a post covid world, lacking in necessary skills and hurting from common disabilities that are being ignored. We cannot expect students with ADHD to sit in a classroom for hours at a time and retain what they are taught. It is not acceptable to expect students with anxiety issues to complete 20+ practice problems without getting overwhelmed or to perform to their abilities on standardized exams with pressure of having graduation on the line.
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I do not know the solution, but I do know what can help. Limiting the number of students per teacher, allowing for learning moments to be explored instead of ignored, giving students the opportunity to work toward mastery then moving on instead of inundating them with busy work, and exploring content that interests them to make learning enjoyable again. Students need to learn to set goals, achieve their goals, and reevaluate for new goals. This is what I want for my daughter and that is why I started My Tutor Connections Resource Center.
