Our SAT Prep Program is a big commitment for everyone involved, including our staff, volunteers, and Community Partners. But the services this program provides make college possible for many New York City students who otherwise would not be able to afford crucial tutoring.

The students at Brooklyn College Community Partnership (BCCP) recognize that, and recently wrote a blog post highlighting the program. New York Cares partners with the BCCP to provide 11th grade students with free SAT tutoring every Saturday for two hours.

Make sure you read the great post, and learn more about our SAT Prep Program. Training for new volunteers starts in August for the 2013-2014 program, but you can sign up now to receive information this summer.

By Susan Torres

Being a teenager is difficult enough without being transplanted to a new school, to a new country, into a language and culture that is very different from the one you grew up with. My personal experience as an immigrant adjusting to a new school was studded with embarrassment and struggle, so tutoring immigrant teens for the SAT was a cause I felt strongly about. I also knew that going to college – outside of its academic merit – would help them gain the social skills and self-confidence they would need to ease their assimilation.

Over the course of my two academic years volunteering with the New York Cares SAT program, I had the opportunity of working with two groups of three students. While I thought this would be more challenging than having just a single student, I found that the group dynamic really helped me teach the material, especially in situations where I was having problems giving a good explanation. One of the other students would usually help explain it to their classmate.

The students at Manhattan International High School were an incredibly diverse group. They all came from a variety of countries, and it was fascinating to watch their interactions. The SAT is a challenging test, and all the students were incredibly smart; all they needed was a guide to take them through the test and explain how to approach it. We covered a variety of math and English topics, and the students wrote a handful of essays over the course of the academic year. Using a series of practice tests administered by the school and graded by Kaplan, I was able to see my students improve and figure out what I should focus on in upcoming lessons.

We also had frequent general discussions about college, and I was able to give them advice and suggestions on how to approach the application process and college life itself. By the end of the academic year, I could see a clear difference in how the students approached and performed on the test. I could also tell that the idea of going to college became less difficult for them; they could see themselves succeeding. I think that confidence may have been the biggest benefit I could have given them.

By Rafal Cebula

If you’d like to sign up to be an SAT tutor, there’s still time. Sign up today.

Meet Iryna Kit, and learn how her experience participating in New York Cares’ SAT prep program changed her life for good and forever. Iryna recently shared her inspiring story at New York Cares’ 6th Annual Breakfast of Community Champions.

Hello. My name is Iryna, and I’m 20 years old.

Today, I’d like to tell you about how two lucky tickets changed the course of my whole life. That’s it. Just two tickets.

The first was my ticket to the United States when I was 13 years old.

I grew up in the Ukraine. Many people in the Ukraine want to emigrate to the U.S. but it is practically impossible. My parents wanted my brother and me to have more choices in life. They had applied at least three times to get visas, but they were always rejected.

Then, five years ago, we found out we had won the coveted visa lottery. We didn’t have a telephone, so we used to borrow the phone of a neighbor across the courtyard. I remember being in bed and hearing this neighbor yell out the window to my mother that we had a phone call from Warsaw. My parents stayed up all night talking, and the next day they told me and my brother that we would be going to America.

We got four tickets to fly from Lviv in the Ukraine to some place called JFK. We arrived on December 28th, 2006 and have been here every since.

That was my first lucky ticket. Read the rest of this entry »

The new school year is well under way, and that means you only have a few more days to get involved in our Kaplan SAT program! The last training for new tutors will be next Monday, September 27, at 6:30 p.m.

We’re looking for volunteers available on Saturdays or weeknights at our sites in the outer boroughs. Sign up for training today, and within a few weeks you’ll be giving at-risk high school students the boost they need to overcome academic obstacles, increase their SAT scores, get into the college of their dreams.

Two hours a week is all it takes to change someone’s life. As a New York Cares Kaplan SAT Prep Tutor, you can give hundreds of at-risk high school students the boost they need to overcome academic obstacles, increase their SAT scores, get into the college of their dreams – and beyond.

You’ll work weekly with groups of two or three students throughout the school year, showing them that someone believes they’ve got what it takes to succeed. New York Cares will provide you with all the training you need to be a great tutor. Sign up for Kaplan SAT Training Part A today!

Halfway through the school year, we hosted a happy hour for our Kaplan SAT tutors to thank them for their hard work so far and rally them for the remaining tutoring sessions this semester.

Volunteers, Team Leaders, and contacts from partnering schools and agencies came out to Metro 53 last week to meet each other, talk about their experiences, and exchange tips for keeping students motivated for the spring semester. According to one attendee, the tutors shared “plenty of insight into how to work with the kids, and it was interesting to hear different perspectives. It was also a great chance to network.”

Thanks to everyone who joined us, and we look forward to seeing you at the next SAT event! If you’re interested in getting involved in the Kaplan SAT program, contact kaplan.prep@newyorkcares.org.

This semester we launched a new program to help disadvantaged high school students succeed. Sophomore Skills is designed to prepare students for our longstanding Kaplan SAT Prep program, which provides SAT tutoring for 800 students each year.

Students in Sophomore Skills work with volunteers to get up to speed on basic math and English skills so their time spent with our SAT tutors in their junior year is even more successful.

Learn more and sign up for a Sophomore Skills project today!

4 days. 145 miles. 5 New York Cares employees. 1 U-haul van.

That’s what it took to deliver 2250 exams and 750 student books, calculators, and dictionaries to the 28 schools and community centers participating in this year’s Kaplan SAT program. Tutoring is well under way for the school year all across the city, as you can see from our delivery routes below (we’re in Staten Island too). A huge thanks to the hundreds of tutors who make this possible!

Read the rest of this entry »

It only takes two hours a week to change someone’s life.

You can give hundreds of low-income New York City high school students the support they need to increase their SAT scores and get into the colleges of their choice. As an SAT tutor, your commitment to your students shows them that someone believes they’ve got what it takes, and often, that’s all they need for their confidence and abilities to grow. Sign up to become a Kaplan SAT tutor today.

New York Cares has teamed up with Kaplan, Inc. to provide comprehensive training in which you’ll learn valuable tutoring skills and how to teach studying and test-taking techniques. Training begins in August and September, and the projects run from October through May on weekday evenings (usually from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.) and Saturdays (usually from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) at 31 locations throughout the city.

E-mail kaplan.prep@newyorkcares.org for more information.

This past school year, 900 high school students from under-served communities in New York City were hard at work studying for the SAT with the help of devoted New York Cares volunteers.

Thanks to the 271 volunteers who helped them improve their test scores and build self-confidence, these students are now well on their way to making their dreams of college a reality.

We held a special celebration this week at Metro 53 to thank our volunteers and partner agencies  for their hard work throughout the year.