Feb 20, 2008 7:54 pm US/Pacific
Helping Young Students Get Ahead
Jefferson Award Winner: Van Tsai
(CBS 5)
In a corner of the Pleasant Hill Public Library, students are arriving to study with Van Tsai, a young teacher who specializes in tutoring for the two biggest college entrance exams, the SAT and the ACT. For five years, he's made his living holding private classes aimed at helping college-bound students improve their scores.
"Actually a lot of questions are tricky," Van explains. "It's not what you learned in school. It's taking some concepts that you might have learned in math class or English class, but then spinning them around and really applying that to solve the problem."
Van says with preparation, students can improve their scores. But it bothered him that not everyone could afford it. A standard eight-week preparatory course for the SAT or ACT can cost about $1000, putting it out of reach of most low-income students and creating what Van saw as an uneven playing field.
"There is a large disparity and I thought it is really unfair that some of these kids who can't afford it, they aren't just getting any access whatsoever," Van says.
Statistics from the College Board back him up. Researchers there found children from households earning up to $30,000 a year score an average of about 200 points lower than those from households earning up to $100,000.
Van adds, "Unfortunately because of that lack of access, low-income students tend to score a lot lower, and as a result, they're not getting into college."
So he contacted counselors at economically disadvantaged high schools and offered his services for free. That's how Theresa Zhang and Jessica Singh heard about the class.
"I would never have taken a class if I had to pay for it," says Theresa. "Otherwise I would have had to pay for it, which I couldn't afford."
"My grammar has improved a lot," says Jessica.
Van travels three days a week from Richmond to Hayward offering encouragement, strategies, and teaching kids, some of whom thought they'd never get to college.
"I never thought it was something you could study for," says Van's former student Wendy Chua.
Wendy says her family couldn't have afforded a prep class. But with Van's help for free, she raised her SAT score 270 points.
"He really stressed the importance of getting a higher education cause that really helps you get a better job in the future," she says.
Wendy was accepted at U.C. Berkeley, where she's now a freshman.
Van says, "I really like working with kids. When they succeed, I succeed."
So for opening the door to higher education to all young students, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Van Tsai.
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