USC students tutor kids of front-line medical workers during COVID-19 pandemic
As news of the impending pandemic grew louder in early March, mother of three Anabel Cantero stayed fully focused on her work as an assistant nurse manager at USC Norris Cancer Hospital. Then the safer-at-home orders were issued and schools were closed. Like other working parents nationwide, Cantero found her professional and family life turned upside down.
“It caused havoc,” she said. “We didn’t know what we were dealing with.”
With the strength that comes from 20 years of experience near the front lines of patient care, Cantero faced the new reality without flinching. Her workdays lasted until midnight and restarted with an 8:30 a.m. meeting. At home, as schools went dark, dining rooms became classrooms.
“I’m not a teacher; I’m a nurse,” Cantero said. “My son was struggling with pre-algebra. My 7-year-old was behind on reading. I helped as much as I could, but teachers have certain tools they use if a student is having difficulties. In a way, I felt they were being robbed of part of their education.”
For USC health care workers with kids, help was on the way
In April, Keck Medicine of USC and USC launched a comprehensive program to ease job and life stress for health care workers fighting on the front lines of the pandemic. The Care for the Caregiver programincluded access to therapists, meals, groceries and other essentials. Tutoring services were soon added to the list.
Anabel Cantero and her daughter, Felicity, do online classes with tutor Ariella Rabbani, a law, history and culture major at USC Dornsife.
Between the Joint Educational Project at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s K-12 STEM Center and the Keck School of Medicine of USC, 84 tutors came forward, ready to help with language arts, math, science and other subjects.
More than 150 young learners were signed up for tutoring services, and Cantero’s three kids were on the list.
USC students learn how to tutor during a pandemic
Rhea Desai, a USC rising sophomore studying global health, has tutored Cantero’s son in pre-algebra.
“He’s ambitious,” said Desai, who works with JEP’s Young Scientists Program. “He’s not afraid to ask for help. He knows what he wants to review, and that’s helpful for me.”
Tania Apshankar, a sophomore majoring in English at USC Dornsife, connected with tutoring through USC Dornsife’s ReadersPLUS program, funded partly through the USC Good Neighbors Campaign. She tutors from her home in Pune, a city in western India.
“The distance can create difficulty,” she said. “Artwork and interactive projects can be tough. But you find solutions, and I’ve seen an upward curve with my two students.”
“I thought Tania was a teacher, she’s so good with my son,” said Lizbeth Gonzalez. Her son Kevin, who attends 32nd Street School/USC Magnet, is one of Apshankar’s students.
“The way Tania teaches — my son enjoys his time with her,” Gonzalez said. “I was thinking about summer school and he said, ‘No, I want Tania.’ He’s heading to first grade and he’ll be better prepared as a result.”
New opportunities for young USC tutors
Cecilia Nguyen, a first-generation college student and rising senior studying psychology at USC Dornsife, has been tutoring with the ReadersPLUS program since her freshman year. She’s taught history, physics and astronomy, and she helped prepare neighborhood kids for college with ACT classes and guidance on their essays. The pandemic response provided her first opportunity to work with a high school student.
“I didn’t know what to expect because I’m only about five years older than he is,” Nguyen said from her home in Northern California. “You’re working on harder subjects. We were actually working on things I’m still doing now at USC. … After his English final, he sent me a note thanking me: short and sweet, but it spoke volumes.”
The student is the son of Jennifer Boozer, clinical assistant professor of family medicine at Keck School of Medicine. Though she’s never met Cecilia face to face, Boozer credits the tutor with providing critical support.
“My son had wonderful things to say about Cecilia,” she said. “She helped keep him on track, and that took a big burden off my shoulders.”
As the dwindling days of summer pass, parents are anxious about what the fall term will look like. Tutoring support for the children of Keck Medicine medical workers and families in the community will continue in one form or another, providing an element of stability.
“At first, my kids weren’t happy about schoolwork continuing through the summer, and I told them ‘There isn’t anything else we can do, so focus on this,’” Cantero said. “I want to maintain that focus. I don’t want them to lose the skills they know.”