Community, Service and Learning All Add Up for CofC Students

^{Above: Claire Varnum with one of her fourth grade students}

According to Dave Smith, Heart Math Tutoring program director for Charleston, if you can count to 20, you can be a Heart Math tutor.

Heart Math offers tutoring services to students in grades K-5. The program provides a structured curriculum with fun, hands-on games. Students take a pre-assessment to determine where to begin in the curriculum and then work with their tutors each week in two 30-minute sessions, with the goal of learning the mathematical process and concepts, not just memorizing answers.

Each year Heart Math Tutoring joins the College of Charleston Center for Civic Engagement for BEst Fest in order to get the word out about its volunteer opportunities. And, this year, CCE is hosting a service project grouping colored stacking cubes for Heart Math’s students.

“We need to have them back in groups of 20 of the same color,” says Smith, explaining that the cubes were sanitized over the summer. “Given that there are several thousand cubes, having volunteers at BEst Fest to sort and count the cubes is a godsend.”

An even greater gift is volunteer tutors. Sydney Conrad, associate director of student and community engagement for the Honors College, manages Honors Engaged, a large-scale community outreach project that introduces students to life as scholar-citizens by giving them an active role in the community.

“The Honors Engaged program began working with Heart Math in 2023, and the number of students who get involved keeps growing,” says Conrad. “We started with 37 students the first year and now, in our third year, Heart Math has requested 60 students.”

Fortunately, students who tutor their first year often continue with Heart Math.

“Having our students continue to volunteer is exactly what we are striving for,” says Conrad. “We want students to experience the joys of giving back and then continue to volunteer long after they leave university.”

Lali Bagwell, a marketing major and Spanish minor at the Honors College, hit upon Heart Math for her Honors Engaged project three years ago and has continued to volunteer there.

“It really gave me a sense of belonging in the Charleston community,” says Bagwell, adding that seeing the impact she can make has motivated her to continue. “It is so gratifying to see a student move to the next level. I wasn’t great in math, but I know if I had help like Heart Math, I would have had greater confidence.”

“It’s really about making time to help students build confidence and develop skills,” agrees Smith, who notes that tutors receive continuous training with online speakers and teaching techniques. “The tutoring sessions are offered before or after class and only require one hour of time per week.”

And it’s well worth the time, says Claire Varnum, a marketing and hospitality and tourism management double major at the Honors College, who is starting her second year as a Heart Math volunteer.

“It’s so rewarding,” says Varnum, a recipient of the Guy Beatty Scholarship. “The students are always so excited to see me, and it is so gratifying to see them progress. It’s also cool to see students complete all the modules and graduate from the program.”

Heart Math Tutoring has made quite the impact in Charleston.

“The number of children Heart Math is able to help is astonishing,” says Wendy Sheppard, senior instructor of mathematics at the College, who serves in the advisory board for the program. “It’s my passion to ensure students who need a boost in math have access to a tutor. The experience is life changing, and it’s all about making math fun and challenging.”

Visit the Heart Math Tutoring website to learn more about the program and volunteering.