Brainy Bulls Offers Free Tutoring, Valuable Experience for Students

When students seek academic assistance, parents may find themselves overwhelmed due to busy schedules or unfamiliarity with current curricula.

 

To address this, the University at Buffalo's Brainy Bulls program offers a supportive solution.

 

“Parents can sign a kid up, the kid can sign themselves up, parents can join in on sessions and have conversations with the tutor-mentor along with their student,” explained Will Green, assistant dean of community relations for the UB Graduate School of Education.

 

The program provides free 40-minute virtual sessions for students in grades 5 through 12, connecting them with UB tutor-mentors.

 

“From my experience, this program is incredible,” said UB junior Melodie Loya.

 

Since joining last fall, she estimates assisting over a hundred students, ranging from one-time help to regular sessions.

 

“The student I was able to help had a lisp and his mother had asked me like, 'hey, do you mind? I want him to read every single day,'” Loya recalled. “We went through reading worksheets and he got better.”

 

She also embraced the mentoring aspect.

 

“I had one student who had disclosed to me that there's some things going on with her friendships,” she said. “I kind of helped give her advice and encouraged her to talk about it with her parents, so you can actually impact them beyond the screen.”

 

With 45 tutor-mentors, the program has expanded from Buffalo to the entire Western New York region.

 

The virtual format enhances accessibility for many.

 

“If we think about what happened during COVID and the uproar over virtual learning, 'Oh, it doesn't work. It doesn't work,' I think that working with peer mentors, peer tutors or tutor-mentors who are close in age to these students creates a natural connection,” said Green.

 

Each Brainy Bull undergoes professional development and mental health training, receiving feedback after each session.

 

It's a mutually beneficial arrangement.

 

“A lot of the tutor mentors don't necessarily come from majors where they do a lot of interaction with other folks or even people in the community,” Green added. “They talk about the significance of making those connections.”

 

These connections have been valuable for Loya's career aspirations.

 

“I want to get my PhD in clinical psychology and I want to work with children in the future,” she explained. “I think this really helps me to grow as a person.”

 

Further expansion of the program is in the works, including collaborations with community groups for virtual after-school tutoring and potential use of AI to reach younger grades.

 

Brainy Bulls offers tutoring from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.

 

Sessions can be scheduled up to two weeks in advance.

 

For more information or to schedule a session, visit the University at Buffalo's Graduate School of Education website.