DVC tutor and supplemental instruction leader Christine Moore has been teaching English in China with the Peace Corps for the last four months. She is currently teaching freshman English majors at a college in the fog-covered and mountainous Nan’an district of the Chongqing municipality in southern China. She has 130 students and teaches classes in oral English, listening skills, and cultural studies.

When asked what is different about China, Moore said simply “everything,” but remarked that “having a host family helped a lot.” She said that she misses her family and friends, but enjoys the hospitality in Chongqing. “Everyone’s super friendly,” she said, adding that people will often ask one another “have you eaten today?” and feed them if they had not.

While completing her B.A. at the University of Oregon, Moore applied for the Peace Corps and was awarded a nomination. She began tutoring at Lane Community College and later tutored at DVC. “I had wanted to apply for Peace Corps for a long time,” she said. At DVC, Moore took English-140, the tutor training class, and eventually became a supplemental instruction leader.

According to the English tutoring lab coordinator Heather Lee, since the English tutoring program was created 30 years ago by Irene Menegas, the tutoring lab has helped students with reading and writing skills in as many as 230 different classes, including math. The program is designed to help tutors “increase the range of their experience.”

Jake Iliff, a first semester tutor who is currently in English-140, also enjoys the challenge of tutoring: “The most rewarding thing is helping people learn how to help themselves,” he said. “I think it’s awesome. Everyone is invested in the experience.”

Lee also pointed out that “we’ve had many people who started out as DVC student tutees who took the tutor training course and then became supplemental instruction leaders, simultaneously completing their Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees while tutoring students.” Many of these tutors often move on to become instructors and professors.

According to Lee, “people call from across the state to find out what we’re doing right.” The high quality of the tutoring program, she says, comes from “the dedication, heart, and hard work of instructors at this college and in this department who want students to succeed.”