Frequently Asked Questions
General
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Our mentors provide tutoring services for K-12 school subjects, including many Honors and AP classes. Additionally, some of our mentors are willing to help with college preparation, such as standardized testing (SAT, ACT, AP, etc.).
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Mentoring sessions will be conducted online via video chat. We suggest using Skype, Google Hangouts, or Zoom, although the decision is up to the parent or guardian, student, and mentor.
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Our outreach team is actively publicizing CovEd to school districts across the US, and we strive to be a useful resource for students in all situations. We especially encourage parents of underprivileged students to register their students for academic support through CovEd.
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We'd love to hear from you! We are always looking for advisors for our organizational team. Please contact us at partnerships@coved.org if interested!
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Yes! This service is completely free—all of our mentors are volunteers.
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This year, we need donations for both legal and technological expenses. To see a further breakdown of our costs and projected costs, please visit this spreadsheet.
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Yes!
For Parents & Students
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All K-12 students in the US who are currently struggling with classes are eligible to be matched with an undergraduate or postgraduate mentor for personalized mentorship and academic support. We are especially committed to supporting underprivileged students. For students under the age of 18, we require that a parent or guardian be present during all mentoring sessions.
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Spectrum is providing free Wi-Fi services for students during the school shutdown. Their number is 1-844-488-8398. Mentoring lessons can also be held via phone call.
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Please visit the registration page of our website to get started! After filling out the required forms, one of our volunteers will be in touch to match you with a mentor.
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Each student is paired with one mentor.
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Parents/guardians are able to request mentors for up to 4 students, with a maximum of one mentor request per student. Be sure to mention the name of the student you're requesting for.
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We expect mentors to be able to help until the end of the academic year for the student. Additionally, due to demand, we are working with many mentors to provide tutoring throughout the summer.
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Our safety guidelines during our mentoring sessions include (but are not limited to): receiving consent from the mentee’s parent or legal guardian, having a parent or guardian present during the lessons, having mentors document the lessons, and instituting a “no social media contact with your mentee” policy.
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Yes! We have mentors that are fluent in various languages. If this is a concern, be sure to mention this in the special requests/concerns portion of the registration form and we will definitely work to accommodate this. Additionally, we are working on translating all flyers and publicity materials into different languages to reach students regardless of their first language.
For Mentors
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Mentors are responsible for volunteering a minimum of 45 mins a week of their time to help their matched mentee with the subjects the mentee requests help in. While a mentor is only matched with one mentee, they can reach out if they would like to mentor more. Mentors are expected to help their mentee(s) until the end of the academic school year. Additionally, all mentors must comply with the CovEd safety guidelines and expectations provided to them at all times.
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We suggest students and mentors meet between 1-2 hours a week, although this can be decided among mentorship pairs. This may depend on the student’s needs as well as the mentor’s availability.
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Yes! We've worked with teachers in a similar situation before. If this is something you would like to consider, please reach out to partnerships@coved.org
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You will get an email from our team. Please be sure to keep an eye on the email you used to sign up!
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We ask that you let the parent of your mentee know that you can no longer be a mentor, and then work with them to help them request a new mentor. Once they have been contacted by a new mentor, please set up a time to meet the new mentor and bring them up to speed on your mentee's progress and needs. Please also email yeji@coved.org so that we can send you the appropriate exit survey.
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If you are doing 1:1 mentoring, email the student/parent.
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yeji@coved.org. We will respond within 2 days. In the subject of the email, please write [Number of Service Hours] [Deadline of your service hours]. If there are any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to let Yeji know. In the email, please include a brief description of what you did and if applicable, which teams you participated in (Training, Outreach, etc).
If you have any service-learning hour-related questions, email yeji@coved.org. If you have any general questions, email support@coved.org
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Because CovEd is a volunteer-run organization and we need your support to keep it running, we ask that you follow these rules:
1) Mentoring is a priority. If you could mentor and there are mentoring opportunities, please sign up for them.
2) Please commit to the program that you are assigned to to the end of the school year since our students rely on the mentoring.
3) Online training by CovEd staff, as well as online training approved by CovEd but not operated by CovEd (aka online training, such as Sagacoach) should NOT exceed 25% of your total hours unless you get prior approval from yeji@coved.org
4) If you need more hours aside from mentoring, we would love it if you would join one of our teams! You can read the positions and responsibilities of each team here and sign up here. You can get your hours from a mix/variety of the different opportunities.
Email yeji@coved.org if you have questions about these additional opportunities. Thank you for making an impact in the lives of students!
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The number of hours provided vary by team. Please see the CovEd Expected Hours for a breakdown of hours. Please note that the hours provided may change over time. Please contact yeji@coved.org if you have any questions. Feel free to volunteer for multiple teams, as long as you are responsive and committed to them.
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Please complete this form after every mentoring session or volunteer activity. We ask that you complete this every week. Contact Yeji to verify your hours no more than one week before the deadline. If you have any questions or concerns, email yeji@coved.org
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We are here for you! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. We want to make sure you get enough hours, so please let us know in advance if you have any concerns etc. It is easier for us to show you what we need help with if you communicate with us in advance!