Through hard work and dedication, Sharing Minds pushes forward in their pursuit of fair and full education for the underprivileged alongside their band of student tutors.
Sharing Minds, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the community, has entered its third year of operation under its founders, seniors Ariel and Daniel Levin.
The non-profit works in unison with Souderton Area High School, being both a school club as well as a fully functional non-profit organization.
Since its founding, Sharing Minds has cultivated a group of committed tutors that spend their time giving back to their community.
According to Daniel, Sharing Minds looks for tutors who exhibit a variety of valuable and essential traits for educating others.
“The main thing we’re looking for is just openness, compassion, empathy and patience,” Daniel said. “You have to be able to be open [to the student] and just be willing to teach in a way that they can learn.”
Ariel echoes this sentiment.
“The people skills, the communication skills; being able to adjust from one person to another; being patient with them. It’s obviously just as important, if not more important, than academic proficiency,” Ariel said.
The Levin brothers founded Sharing Minds under the principle of online tutoring, where they host online sessions between the mentor and the student.
The club achieves this through their online portal where they can connect directly to students in need of guidance.
Additionally, Sharing Minds has partnered with channels in the Philadelphia area to boost the club’s ability to reach out to students.
“We have collaborated with a non-profit from Philadelphia that sends us a separate applicant pool of students,” Ariel said.
Sharing Minds has faced multiple challenges during its time at the high school, more specifically during its time as an organization.
According to Sharing Minds club advisor Anne Frederick, the club has had difficulties reaching out to students in need, despite their efforts in Philadelphia and online.
“They’re targeting specifically the Philadelphia and Norristown school districts, and those that have great academic needs,” Frederick said. “Sometimes they would hear back, sometimes they didn’t.”
As much as they need students, the organization needs tutors, as well.
Sharing Minds has utilized a variety of ways to spread awareness about the club, such as participating in the Club Fair, as well as advertising on the high school’s morning announcements.
The organization has made great strides in enlisting new tutors, with its third year having attracted a large crowd of many students coming from various classes.
Junior tutor Ryan Richhart said that aiding others in their academics brought him great satisfaction while doing so.
“Helping people is just awesome, and then just seeing the results, hearing their positive feedback. It’s just so nice to hear that. It’s like I’m actually making a difference in their lives,” Richhart said.
The organization continues to help students in need.
