February 2012 Tutor Spotlight: Rileigh D

This month in our Tutor Spotlight series we are featuring Rileigh D! Rieligh joined our organization in January 2012 and has tutored for a total of 36 hours so far. She's featured for developing a new way to share visual resources with students.

Getting to know Rileigh...




Q: Where do you hail from?
A: Colorado

Q: What’s your occupation?
A: High School Student

Q: Why do you tutor?
A: I tutor because I like to help people. I know that learning things can be frustrating and I've needed help from older friends on many occasions. Pretty much, I would like to pay back the favor, and maybe make a little difference in peoples' lives.

Q: What did you want to be when you were 7 years old?
A: When I was 7, I really wanted to be an astronaut. I had a lot of books and posters on the subject and I even got to meet an astronaut when I was in Kindergarten. Its not my dream anymore, but I would still like to do something concerning math and science.

Q: What is your favorite subject?
A: My favorite school subject is probably Biology. Before taking a lot of science classes, I started out with just a general interest in science, but I had an awesome teacher in Biology whom I learned a lot from. Close seconds are Chemistry and Calculus.

Q: Were you ever in a spelling bee?
A: I was in a spelling bee in middle school and it didn’t turn out that well because I misspelled the second word. On the bright side, I have never missed that word since, and I did get a really cool T-shirt.

Q: If you could return to any time period, which would you choose?
A: I would return to the time period around when the civil war was happening. Although dangerous, it would be intriguing to see how America evolved in just a few decades.

If you'd like to nominate a tutor for the tutor spotlight, let us know who and why at admin@tutorchatlive.org!

Cyber Attack Alert

Dear users, tutors, and partners,

We're sorry to report to you that TutorChatLive.org is currently under a cyber attack. A former disgruntled vendor with whom we have discontinued service with is posting malicious, untruthful remarks under aliases on several complaint boards around the internet. Such sites include scam.com, pissedconsumer.com, and teachercomplaints.com. We have contacted federal authorities and are working to get these libelous comments removed.

If you have any doubt, here's the truth:

- As our over 18,000+ registered users can attest, TutorChatLive.org's services are completely free for students. At no point in the process do we ask for credit card information or for payment for services.

- Every volunteer tutor that applies to our organization goes through a rigorous screening process to ensure that they are qualified to tutor. Our 50+ dedicated volunteers would never intentionally mislead students.

- TutorChatLive.org's dedicated team of administrators proudly upholds our mission to deliver free, live, online tutoring to secondary school students in everything we do. We started this organization because we're passionate about education and student success.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us at admin@tutorchatlive.org.

We appreciate your continued support of our program, and we look forward to continuing to advance our mission.

Sincerely,

TutorChatLive.org Administration

-------------

The following comments were drafted by the attorney representing us on this matter:

Please be advised that TutorChatLive.org, a U.S. nonprofit corporation of students at the University of Pennsylvania that supplies free tutoring services through its website to grade school and high school students, has been the subject of a false and malicious attack by a company called SynapseIndia Pvt. Ltd. TutorChatLive.org vehemently denounces these attacks as false and motivated by greed and ill will. Please contact TutorChatLive.org by email at dkattan@TutorChatLive.org. Thank you.

What's All That Buzz? - February 24, 2012

"Michigan polls show Romney gained after GOP debate"

We're currently well into the primary season, where presidential candidates from the republican party are vying to win votes in states across the country in the hopes of becoming the party nominee who will contest President Obama in November's election.

Right now, the next two states to vote are Michigan and Arizona. After several losses, Mitt Romney, the one-time front runner, is now possibly looking at being defeated by his opponent, Rick Santorum, in Michigan. This would not be good for Romney because he is from Michigan and his father was governor there. If he cannot connect with voters from his home state, how can he connect with those from other states?

Click here to read more from the LA Times.

Celebrating Two Years!

Happy birthday to us! Today TutorChatLive.org celebrates two years of service. With over 50 tutors and 18,000 registered site users, it's been a very challenging and exciting year. Thank you to our tutors, users, and partners for your continued support of our program. We look forward to continuing our mission to provide secondary school students with free, live online tutoring for years to come!

The next time you're online, make sure to wish our tutors a happy birthday!

60 Second Good-to-Knows - November 6, 2012

This week's topic: Gardening

If you're looking to create a garden this summer, perhaps try planting marigolds! The following video offers some tips on how to make sure these flowers thrive. Also learn what animals are enemies to these delicate flowers.

January 2012 Tutor Spotlight: Naomi DM

This month in our Tutor Spotlight series we are featuring Naomi DM! Naomi joined our organization in November 2011 and has tutored for a total of 14 hours so far. She's featured for developing ways to share files with students.

Getting to know Naomi...

Q: Where do you hail from?
A: Northern Mariana Islands

Q: What’s your occupation?
A: Student

Q: Why do you tutor?
A: I would like to have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others by using my intelligence and creativity to assist students in achieving their best academically. In addition, I believe tutoring others would enable me to explore diverse issues and situations where I can challenge myself as a learner.

Q: What did you want to be when you were 7 years old?
A: An Astronaut

Q: What is your favorite subject?
A: English

Q: What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
A: BBQ Sauce

Q: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
A: A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

If you'd like to nominate a tutor for the tutor spotlight, let us know who and why at admin@tutorchatlive.org!

This Week in History - December 9, 2011

This week marks the 110th anniversary of the Nobel Prize! The first prizes were distributed in the fields of physics, medicine, chemistry, literature, and peace. A prize for economics was introduced in 1968. The prize is named after Alfred Nobel, a Swedish innovator, who donated money after he died to establish the prizes. Past recipients include:

- Barack Obama
- Al Gore
- Jimmy Carter
- Nelson Mandela
- Theodore Roosevelt

For more information, visit http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-nobel-prizes-awarded.