To help students struggling academically due to online schooling during COVID-19, the Levin brothers created Sharing Minds tutoring. The organization connects students to tutors via Zoom for one-on-one tutoring sessions.
Sharing Minds launched in March after several months of planning and work.
According to Sharing Minds co-founder Ariel Levin, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked the idea for the organization this past year when many districts went online.
“We came up with the idea that maybe we can help other districts,” Ariel said. “There were a lot of schools that were closed and we wanted to help the districts [whose students] were affected the most.”
Gifted facilitator Anne Frederick said Sharing Minds helps districts who don’t have the resources to create tutoring programs of their own.
“[Districts] are already maxed out,” Frederick said. “There’s so many services they have to provide. So [Sharing Minds] wanted to focus on students who really need it.”
According to Ariel, Sharing Minds really began to take shape last August when they began the process of becoming a nonprofit organization.
“I got in contact with a nonprofit filing company and they helped me with all of the legal proceedings,” Ariel said.
Sharing Minds currently connects with students virtually via Zoom.
According to sharingminds.org, the organization’s website, individual, online tutoring sessions create a “private learning atmosphere” for students to learn.
However, meeting with students strictly online can be challenging.
Co-founder Daniel Levin said the best way to combat these challenges is to make sure tutors form connections with their students and always come prepared for each session.
“You want to have material prepared and contact [students] in advance and talk to them on what specifically they need to be tutored in,” Daniel said.
As Sharing Minds is still a new organization, co-founders Daniel and Ariel are currently the only tutors volunteering for the nonprofit.
“We wanted to start off this year just with us and then hopefully extend as we get more students,” Daniel said.
According to sharingminds.org, brothers Daniel and Ariel are currently enrolled in many advanced classes at Souderton Area High School and have “extensive tutoring expertise.”
The organization hopes to recruit high school students to volunteer as tutors for Sharing Minds.
According to Daniel, along with basic requirements such as GPA and grades, Sharing Minds also looks for tutors who care about the community.
“[Tutors should] have that kind of passion, wanting to do it for the community and kind of just giving back,” Daniel said.
Moving forward, Sharing Minds hopes to grow the number of subjects in its curriculum.
The organization currently offers tutoring in many math and science subjects from the elementary to high school level.
According to Ariel, they hope to broaden the organization to include tutoring in English and Social Studies subjects.
Daniel said diversifying the organization will help Sharing Minds “expand into other districts.”
Students interested in volunteering with Sharing Minds can contact [email protected].