Edina Public Schools is known to be one of the best school systems in our state offering a multitude of on and off-campus resources for its students, especially at Edina High School. However, many of EHS’s students do not take full advantage of some of these programs.
One of the resources that is routinely neglected at EHS is the peer tutor center. There, students are able to receive help on their school work from an EHS student who specializes in science, math, or reading. One of the peer tutors, Polly Curran, states that she sees only a few students each day. “I feel like there are more than two to three students who are struggling,” Curran said. The reason why students are hesitant to use the peer tutor center is unknown, but Curran believes there could be an unnecessary stigma around asking for help. “There’s no judgment in the peer tutor center. Anyone and everyone is welcome, no matter who you are,” Curran said.
Curran is also under the impression that the peer tutor center would be able to reach more students if it became more involved in the classroom on a more everyday basis. “Having the math tutors go to like a math classroom and a writing tutor go to an English classroom and helping out just during one period would be super helpful,” Curran said.
Another resource many EHS students need to utilize is teacher office hours. Teacher office hours provide a time for students to receive extra help with their schoolwork with a teacher outside of school hours. This allows students to ask questions in a one-on-one fashion and receive answers directly from their teacher. “As a teacher, I really loved the student that wanted to ask questions like, ‘Why did I get the wrong answer?’ for the love of learning,” assistant principal Jennifer Carter said.
Even though programs such as the peer tutor center and teacher office hours are not being fully utilized, other school resources are in full use. One resource that is constantly in use is EHS’s media center. There, students can be seen throughout the day reading, studying, or receiving tech help. There is also a system where students can take home AP test prep books as well as ACT and SAT study guides, which are donated to the media center.
EHS’s librarian Sarah Swenson said that in 2023, 15,000 books were checked out of the EHS media center and that 2,000 have been checked already this year. “We’re so fortunate to have a school library and a school librarian. Only one-third of the schools in the state of Minnesota actually have a school librarian. And that Edina has one, a full-time librarian in every school, is amazing,” Swenson said.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on October 12, 2023.
