Sigma Tau Delta's Students for Students awarded Project Grant

The English Department would like to congratulate the University of Maryland’s Chi Tau chapter of Sigma Tau Delta for its 2014 Project Grant Award, recognizing its traveling tutoring program, Students for Students.

The goal of Students for Students is to promote college readiness in high school students through assistance with college application essays, scholarship applications and essays, and more, said President of Sigma Tau Delta, John DeOrnellas. The group currently tutors at Northwestern High School, but would like to expand at other nearby schools such as Laurel High or Three Rivers School in DC.

As a national organization, Sigma Tau Delta’s goal is to promote and foster literature, language, and writing in all generations. Students for Students was awarded the 2014 Project Grant because of its support for writing and literary study by high school students. With these funds, Students for Students hopes to continue its efforts to expand tutoring by providing gas money for students who can drive tutors that aren’t within shuttle-bus distance to campus. The group also hopes to start an online component with the help of the project grant.

“We would like to have Students for Students be a large program with a lot of success, and to be able to reach out to more schools within reasonable traveling distance, but we cannot do that with the limited amount of tutors we have now,” DeOrnellas said.

Although the group has finished its tutoring for this semester, sessions for spring semester will be planned before finals. If you’re not a member of Sigma Tau Delta but looking to become a tutor for Students for Students, email SigmaTauDeltaUMD@gmail.com to be added to the ListServ. You will get up-to-date information on tutoring times and locations, as well as be able to provide feedback to members for future trips.

A typical tutoring session usually begins with a snack for the high school students, and then tutors are assigned individually to help students as long as they need. Visits usually last around 60 to 75 minutes, depending on how many students need tutoring each day.

“For me, the most rewarding part of this experience is to give these seniors and juniors the confidence they need in their writing. We help them realize that they can write on a college level and can get the scholarships and other financial aid they need. We want to help them go to their dream schools and succeed without worrying as much about how they are going to pay for it,” DeOrnellas said.