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In This Issue...
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Business
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Students of All Ages Find Success with Club Z! Tutoring
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Students of All Ages Find Success with Club Z! Tutoring
By Mary Bryant
Club Z! In-Home Tutoring Services is the world’s largest in-home individualized tutoring company. But local franchise director and owner Lisa Peterson likes to talk about her successes one at a time, from the high school student having trouble in physics to the woman who needed to learn more about a computer program for her job.
With a background in education and a Masters in Library and Information Science, Lisa took more than a year looking at a variety of opportunities to begin her own business. She knew she wanted her business to be one that made a meaningful difference for her clients.
“I really loved the model for Club Z,” she stated.
She said that the Club Z approach to tutoring makes sense.
“It’s so individual,” she added. To explain the program to prospective students, Club Z will come to your home to discuss how the program can be tailored to fit your needs. “We do a free in-home consultation.”
Lisa believes the approach is essential for a student’s success. Club Z works primarily with the school’s curriculum to help students excel in their current academic environment. Club Z can also provide assessments if needed. Lisa added that local educators have been impressed with the results.
“They see the student’s performance in the classroom improve really quickly,” she said.
Lisa said that sometimes a student may be having trouble in a single subject area, while some students will be having trouble with several classes or have failed entirely.
“Sometimes the biggest stumbling blocks are organizational skills or test-taking skills,” she explained. “We do have specialized programs.”
Additionally, Club Z can help top students prepare for ACT and SAT exams. Club Z even offers instruction in study skills.
Lisa emphasizes that each client has individual needs.
“I was working with a student in algebra last year. … I noticed there were some gaps in her knowledge,” Lisa said, adding that the teen had missed lessons in earlier math classes and didn’t know some basic concepts like fractions. “She couldn’t do the algebra work without a firm grasp of those concepts.”
Lisa helped the girl with the basics, and when they returned to the algebra work, the teen found that the algebra made much more sense.
“It was like seeing a light bulb going on,” Lisa added. “We want all of our students to reach their full potential.”
Even for students who are carrying a 4-point grade average, certain classes can be difficult, threatening a perfect score and a chance to attend certain universities.
“We get some of those students who are really smart and focused on keeping their grade point average up,” Lisa said.
Reaching Her Full Potential
For Lisa, sorting out what to do with a Masters degree, experience as an educator and the desire to find a career that would prove “meaningful” took some time.
She graduated from Stanford and took a job teaching special education in San Francisco. From childhood, Lisa had ice skated competitively and dreamed of a career as a professional ice skater.
“I auditioned for Disney on Ice and they accepted me. I toured the world with Mickey Mouse for five years,” she said.
Lisa was even able to continue her work in education on the tour, tutoring two girls, 4th and 8th grades, in a homeschool program. After five years touring Europe and the U.S., along with such countries as Japan and Australia, Lisa finished her graduate study in North Carolina and then took a job with the South Florida Sun Sentinel as a researcher, helping develop an Intranet for reporters with source databases, links and archives.
“They were so thrilled with that [the paper] created a department for Intranet development,” she said.
Lisa stayed about five years, but something was missing.
“I missed working with kids. … I just wanted to get back into education,” she said.
She traveled the United States for about a year investigating educational franchises. She also was looking for the perfect place to live.
“Santa Cruz County is the most magical place in the country,” she said. And Club Z was the model she selected. After more than a year, she couldn’t be happier with her decisions.
“We have already helped a lot of kids,” Lisa said.
The Right Tutor for the Job
Part of the success of Club Z is matching the right tutor for each student.
Lisa said that for educators, the Club Z model is great.
“It’s rewarding for [a tutor] to form relationships with the family and the students,” she said, “and to see the students succeed and reach their goals.”
When possible, Club Z tutors are certificated teachers. Others hold advanced degrees in specialized subjects like physics. Club Z even has a linguist fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Latin. The range of educators allows Club Z to fill about any request.
Recently, a businesswoman contacted Club Z. She had taken a job and realized that she was going to have to know more about Microsoft’s Excel program. She got the in-home instruction she needed right away.
An older couple had received a Dell computer from their son, however neither knew much about computers. A Club Z tutor came to their home and taught them what the couple needed to know about e-mail and the Internet.
Lisa says that most of Club Z’s students are still in school, and she enjoys being able to make a difference for a young person that will last a lifetime. Club Z receives requests for all subjects for K-12 students and matches students to tutors based on the individual subjects requested. And as you might expect, physics, algebra and trig still seem to be the most challenging courses for teens.
“We also have some college students,” she added.
Club Z completes background checks of all tutors. And so far, Club Z has had no problem keeping up with the demand. Lisa said that while she is always looking for new tutors, she is very pleased with the tutors available, from retired teachers to moms with credentials who don’t want to work fulltime.
Lisa said that she’s excited about the new year.
“We are just looking forward to helping more students,” she added.
Oh yes, and that student that was having trouble in physics? One semester after he began tutoring he was getting top grades and helping explain lessons to other students.
“I love success stories,” Lisa said. Club Z! Tutoring can be reached by calling 831-662-2504, email lpeterson@clubztutoring.com or visit them online at www.clubztutoring.com
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