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Gregory Groth
Tutor, Teacher, Instructor
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I am a recently retired US State Department Foreign Service Officer and US Naval War College professor. With a degree in Biology, I served as a Fisheries Extension Agent with the Peace Corps in French-speaking Africa before earning my MS in Agriculture, which included lots of Math for irrigation calculations. Worked for nearly a decade in West Africa, where I honed my French language abilities. When I joined the US Foreign Service as an Economic Officer in 1996, I scored a 3+/4 on the Foreign Service Institute French language test. I served for over 20 years as a reporting officer, writing hundreds of diplomatic cables on the subject of microeconomic and macroeconomic issues. I also oversaw (proofreading, editing, suggesting changes) the writing of hundreds more cable reports by supervisees. Some of these went up to the level of Secretary of State. As a final tour with the State Department, I earned my MA at the US Naval War College and taught in the Strategy and Policy Department for two years, teaching History and tutoring military officers to write long essays. I have always been a good test taker (scored 1300 on the SAT as a 14/15 year old) and am currently tutoring my own 13-year-old son for the upcoming SSAT. I am prepared to tutor either online or in-person, at a location of the student's choice. I am the married father of three children, ages 8, 11, and 13.
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Olivia Smith
Tutor, Teacher, Instructor
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I am a trained tutor with a BA in Written Arts and Classical Studies, and 4+ years of experience tutoring students of all ages. I work particularly on supporting students as they develop writing, reading, and studying skills. In my work I meet students where they are in their academic process and collaborate with them to build achievable goals. I work to change student outcomes--not just the grade on one paper or test; this work is not simply editing, but rather engaging with the roots of students’ academic struggles and joys and building up from there. I believe in supporting students as they interrogate their own academic processes and their own ideas--and do this by leading them through rounds of Socratic questioning, free writing, and showing examples of model work. I have worked at the Bard College Learning Commons as a tutor for over four years, where I have been a peer tutor and Writing Fellow. I am also TESOL certified and have worked at Bard College as an ELL specific tutor. Through the Bard Prison Initiative, I have gained experience working with "non-traditionally aged" students. I am now employed by Bard College as the Tutor Coordinator, a job that allows me not only to tutor, but also to support, collaborative with, and hold training workshops for the undergraduate tutors at the college.