Tutoring Pals Overview

The achievement gap in Santa Barbara is well documented and continues to be a major problem.  This achievement gap is specifically identified within our minority student population.   Santa Barbara PAL is "home" to a very large cultural/minority population within the City of Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara PAL's unique connection to our very culturally diverse community allows us to identify many youth that would normally "fall through the cracks".   We have contacts with many families/youth and can easily identify youth that would benefit from our program. We presently have 60 youth identified and the number continues to grow.  Our program will include a Cal-SOAP tutors and Westmont student volunteers that will meet and work with the teen’s one on one.  We will focus on tutoring, but also mentoring the students.  It is a major focus of our program to not only address current educational needs, but also actively encourage and support higher educational opportunities for the youth as they graduate from Santa Barbara. Each youth is given an assessment of needs and level of commitment and is then assigned to a tutoring mentor.  For the one-on-one tutoring, the youth will meet with their tutoring mentor a minimum of 2 or more times weekly, the tutoring mentor then sends an introductory email to each of the youth’s teachers to create a strong web of support. Parents are contacted monthly (unless additional contact is needed) and made aware of their youth’s progress and informed on how they can continue to support their child. Assignments are checked daily through their EDU and grades are kept on file weekly.  Santa Barbara PAL provides any additional school supplies needed throughout the school year.

Each tutoring mentor receives training from our staff and meets daily with our Tutor and Family Coordinator.  The youth will additionally, attend field trips to local and out of town colleges and universities.  The youth are also required to participate in community service projects throughout the school year.  Additionally, we have social events in an effort to educate and support the wellbeing of the entire family.   This educational gap must be addressed immediately, if we are to stop the negative consequences of not educating ALL of our youth to be positive and prospering members of our community. 

Our Goals

• To enrich the educational experience of youth at risk of academic failure by giving those one-on-one or small group tutoring.
  
• Address the achievement gap by providing tutoring support and homework help as well as support for studying for tests as well as ACT and SAT exams.
  
• To improve youths lives by connecting them with college students and a higher education way of life.
• Teach independent living/life skills, instill creativity, and promote the youth's self-esteem.  
• Students will know more about college life and their options for after high school. 
• Parents and Educators will see a positive behavior change in students overall by the end of the school year. 

Meet Your Tutoring Pals!

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Katherine Hou

Hi my name is Katherine Hou, I am a second year, economics and business major at Westmont College from Orange County. I love teaching, engaging and interacting with students of all ages with different backgrounds. I have served and taught students in numerous places including China, Taiwan, Mexico, San Fransicso, and Los Angeles. 

Kasey Iverson

​My name is Kasey Iverson. I’m from Glendora, California, but am currently attending Westmont College here in Santa Barbara! I love music, photography, and literature—especially poetry! I work with the Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts at Westmont to promote the liberal arts and encourage students to strive for higher education. 

Jennifer Lopez

​My name is Jennifer Lopez and I am a 5th year at UC Santa Barbara. My majors are Chicana/o Studies and Sociology. I am originally from Garden Grove in Orange County and I enjoy visiting my family every other weekend. I am the first in my family to move out of my home right after high school and attend college, and I am hoping I am an inspiration to my younger sister who is a freshman in high school right now. 

Jeff McCullough

​My name is Jeff McCullough. I am from Goleta the Goodland and just finished my bachelors degree in Criminology/Criminal Justice at Long Beach State. In my free time I go spearfishing, free driving, and scuba diving at our local Channel Islands. As of now I am in the process of becoming a police officer.

Kate Merman

​Hey, I’m Kate Melman. I am from Colorado and moved to Santa Barbara to attend Westmont College in August 2015. I am currently a sophomore at Westmont, studying Higher education is important to me because it empowers people and gives them the resources needed to be able to affect change within their community. Personally, I am a first-generation college student and I am looking forward to ways I can help my family and similar families live healthier lives in my future career as a healthcare provider.

Ricardo Placencia

A Santa Barbara native, Ricardo attended local schools until he transferred out from SBCC. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Cell/Molecular Biology from California State University Dominguez Hills. Ricardo was a Resident Teacher at King/Drew Medical Magnet high school in south Los Angeles, teaching regular and honors Biology. His passion for community outreach and service led him to conduct research, tutor/mentor students, and serve as the program coordinator for a health fellowship. You might catch him out surfing, playing soccer or hiking our local trails.