Rushing through halls, trying to remember exactly what your teacher said during lecture, trying to remember what pages were homework; these are the everyday realities of a stressed high school student. If only you had some one-on-one time with your teacher.
Most students struggle with being on top of all their assignments and keeping their grades up. At Northview High School, Saturday school was created in the late 1990’s as a way for students to make up absences and missed work, to assist athletes who were struggling to maintain good grades, and to serve as a supervised detention system. In the early 2000’s Saturday School was phased out. In 2004, Math Academic Tutorial Support (M.A.T.S.) was created to replace some of what Saturday school offered, but in an after school as opposed to weekend format. M.A.T.S. was held in the library Northview had at the time, and then used a computer lab that is now the music lab. M.A.T.S. was originally just for math help. Fast forward to 2009, when English, Science, and Social Studies were added into the mix. That’s when M.A.T.S became Core Academic Tutorial Support (C.A.T.S.). C.A.T.S. is an after school program offering one-on-one help and tutoring from a certified teacher, free of charge. From 2019-2020 C.A.T.S. disappeared due to Covid and online schooling. By 2021, C.A.T.S. was back up and running and has been going strong ever since. The difference between C.A.T.S. and M.A.T.S. is the subjects included, M.A.T.S. was just for math while C.A.T.S. is for all four core subjects.
Since its creation, C.A.T.S. left a big impact on students who have attended Northview. Many students regularly attend and use C.A.T.S. as a valuable resource. Teaching staff like James Haveman have good things to say about the program.
“As a teacher, it takes the load off for all the teachers. If a student’s willing to come in and get some extra help, extra tutoring, or they don’t miss an extra day because they’re able to make up a test or quiz. It helps everyone to stay on track with their learning,” Haveman said.
Haveman has personally witnessed changes in students since CATS became an option at the high school.
“I would say that their [students] ability to be more confident in your class, especially with their math skills, has grown because they get the extra help,” Haveman said.
From a parents perspective, Dion Charity personally believes how he would rather have his kids go to C.A.T.S. for resources rather than himself giving wrong information.
“From a professional standpoint, the teachers have earned their degrees and their certificates in those areas, and they’re proving that they are professional. So I’m gonna pusin the progress report I sent out this morning,h my kids to the professionals and not try to guess,” Charity said.
Junior Ava Venema seeks growth in her grades, and goes to C.A.T.S. for help in achieving his goal.
“I’ve seen an improvement in my grades. It’s (C.A.T.S.) helped when I don’t have time in class to ask or just for extra support. It helps me understand the topics and do better on tests,” Venema said.
In his experience, recommending C.A.T.S. to others is one of the best choices Junior Jaahzir Mason has made.
“If you go to C.A.T.S., you can get the help from the teacher, and you get the focus that you need to do well on your tests and stuff like that,” Mason said.
Former U.S. Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, believes the benefit of after school academic programs.
“Afterschool is a different kind of learning environment, kids are more relaxed and more eager to learn,” Paige said.
All groups of different students come to C.A.T.S. and always come out with the same outcome. Don’t be ashamed to get the academic help you need. People who come to C.A.T.S. have a range of academic history, yet they all have C.A.T.S. in common. The better option is to face your problems and finish that assignment you haven’t turned in yet.
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