NEWS: Support Center Offers Students Extra Academic Help

(Photo courtesy Advocate Staff)
By Brenda Grunow – Staff Reporter
The Support Center is open in Room 129 from 7:20 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. every school day for students looking for extra help with their work.
In the Support Center there are many different teachers that you can work with, online or in person, with different subjects, including work on SAT prep and college essays. For example, Mrs. Anderson works with students who need help in English and Mr. Ruzbarsky teaches math and science.
There are many ways that students can take advantage of the Support Center. students can also schedule Google Meet appointments with students on Distance Learning days.
“There are a couple of ways the LASS (Law Academic Support Services) teachers can help students,” Anderson said. “The first is students can come directly to the Support Center during a free period. The second is to sign in virtually using the Google Meet link on the Support Center Google Classroom page.”
This extra help has been proven to help students get their work done more efficiently.
“We work with a lot of students everyday,” Ruzbarksy said. “If I had to put numbers to it, I would say recently we have been helping anywhere from 6-15 students per period on average. Some periods more, some periods less.”
There is one English teacher and one math teacher in the Support Center each period, but they can help students with other subjects as well.
“We help students with basically any subject they need help with accept foreign language,” Ruzbarsky said. “We mainly focus on math and English but we have helped with science (the more math-y sides of it) and history as well (the more written parts of it).We also help students prepare for SATs and with their college essays.”
There are different English teachers in the Support Center each period. Ms. Kelly is available to help during Periods 2, 6, and 7; Mrs. Goldbeck is available Periods 5 and 8; Mr. Nigretti is available Period 1, and Anderson is available Period 4.
On the math side, Mr. Frank is in the Support Center during Periods 1 and 6, Ruzbarsky is available Periods 3, 4, 5, and 7, and Mr. Bracnaro is available during Period 2.
Lastly, tutor Mr. Flores can help students with math, English, science, and history, and help with skills like goal setting, time management, and test preparation.
The Support Center is meant for anyone who needs some extra guidance on assignments or needs help setting up their schedule. This organizational help can make students more productive and gives them less anxiety about missing work, homework, essays, and tests.
Here is a link to the Support Center: milforded.org/schools/jl/student-life/academic-support-services
