"He was smart, good and well-behaved; he just didn't go to school a lot," Jacobs says. She says she thought that his teacher had signed him up for the math tutoring without asking him if he wanted to participate.

Maintaining a regular schedule can also be a problem for would-be tutors. While tutoring at the Fletcher School, Powell says he found what time he tutored affected his success. "There are some situations where [tutoring] works better than others," he says. "I saw the kids at the end of the school day when the last thing they want to do is sit there while their friends are having fun." He says that one of the students he had been assigned to tutor would sneak out of school to avoid the sessions.

By contrast, Rogers says she never had scheduling problems while tutoring Deborah. "I [laid] down the law in the beginning," Rogers says. "When she didn't show up once, I told her that I walked 20 minutes to get there so could she call me and leave a message on the answering machine next time. And she did."

Even with an enthusiastic student, tutoring once a week can present problems, because students forget what they have learned. "Any progress you make is diminished by next time," Powell says.

None of these hurdles have deterred PBH Education Committee Co-Chairman Elena Patterson '88, who tutors at Rindge. In four years, the senior says she has tutored about 20 students in math and science.

"If students are having problems, they want to show up to the sessions," Patterson says. Patterson says that she does not generally have problems establishing a rapport with the students, perhaps because she concentrates on a tangible subject matter. "If you get the answer right, that establishes trust," she says.

Explaining her durable commitment to tutoring, Patterson says, "I love math and science, and I deplore the fact that others don't. That is mostly because it is poorly taught, and I can try to do something about it."

In addition, Patterson says she plays a special role for female students. "I prefer to work with girls because I think they need special encouragement," she says. "It is important for them to see a role model who has had success in these `impossible' math and science courses and can show them that they can too."

Like most undergraduates who stick with tutoring programs, Carl J. Rosin '88 says he has found the students enthusiastic and the tutoring experience a positive one. "The kids I've worked with have been very willing to learn. They are very happy to work with us. When you're in sixth grade, a college senior is the greatest thing in the world," says Rosin, who is co-chairman of the Leverett House HAND committee.

Now in his third semester of tutoring in the HAND program at Longfellow, Rosin is working with a blind student in the sixth grade, taping and reading books. He has also helped a fifth-grader with reading and writing.

Rosin adds, "The kids really get into it--they know we're not going to sit at a desk and beat information into them."

"You know they're learning--because they spend the time, you know that they know that learning is important." Rosin said, adding that he has seen improvement in some of his tutees. He recalls being thanked by one fifth-grader whose new report card showed an improvement from a B to B-plus.

Teachers of the tutees are also grateful to the volunteers, Rosin says. "They're very appreciative and grateful for our help," he says.

Teachers agree. "I desperately need them [volunteers,]" says Piret. In past years, the Rindge teacher has had volunteers from the Divinity School and undergraduate tutors from PBH. She is currently working with a Harvard sophomore in one of her bilingual education classes. "The situation I'm in requires each student getting individual attention. If I can handle the most difficult children and give one or two to volunteers, the load is off me," she says.

"Volunteers are not a frill," says Brickman. "In the age of Ronald Reagan and public school cutbacks, they are indispensible. Volunteers are a fundamental part of our ability to provide service to students."