Teens start virtual tutoring business to help others during COVID

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- A group of teens from the Hawthorne and Inglewood area came up with an idea to help other students like themselves. Their business is called Remote Tutoring and that's what they do: tutor students remotely from kindergarten through eighth grade.

The communications lead of Remote Tutoring, Caitlin Pham, said one of the reasons they wanted to start the business was to help families while dealing with the effects of the pandemic.

"I think another big incentive that made us want to start this program... unfortunate circumstance with COVID," Pham said. "There's a lot of kids and hundreds of families out there who don't have the necessary needs for education."

16-year-old Hawthorne resident Abrar Kazi said he came up with the idea over the summer and mobilized friends to come together as tutors.

"About two months ago, I couldn't sleep," Kazi said. "And I had this idea of creating a service where I could help children who need help because of these times."

Like many classes in the time of COVID, the tutors hold all of their sessions via Zoom and charge $7.50 for 30 minutes or $15 for an hour. They also offer the first session free of charge.

"Being Gen Z, we really do have the same curriculum," said Leilani Dexter, the group's secretary. "Just to have that little connection is just really good to have."

Besides this being something great to include on college applications, the group said they genuinely like tutoring.

"I honestly love tutoring," said Financial Tech Officer Natalie Abraham. "I just love seeing him really think out the problems or like find out what he's reading and stuff because I know he's improving."

"I just get so happy whenever I see [the student] look to her mom because she has this thing where she looks to her mom whenever she gets something right," Pham said. "And that just brings me absolute joy."

Jobina Patino is a parent of students being tutored and she said she's noticed that remote tutoring has helped build her son's confidence by having the one-on-one instruction. The tutors said they're able to relate to the students more because they're closer in age.

"It builds self-confidence, self-esteem, so that following day when he does go back online, he's like, 'You know what, I've got this. I practiced and I might have stumbled yesterday, but I'm going to get it through today.'"

"Being tutored by people or kids who are, I don't want to consider myself a kid, but a teenager who's somewhat close to your age, I think it makes the student feel a lot more comfortable," Pham said.

To learn more about Remote Tutoring, visit their Facebook page.

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