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University education departments offering free tutoring to K-12 Students in South Dakota

Education students at Black Hills State and Northern State Universities are offering free tutoring to South Dakotas kids. These one-on-one sessions cover most subjects and age levels.

The South Dakota Board of Regents and Department of Education has partnered with the institutions to create the program for all South Dakota K-12 students.

Jarrett Moore is assistant professor of research and assessment at Black Hills State. He saidafter a limited rollout of the program last month, they are now fully staffed.

“We have tutoring available seven days a week," Moore said. "A parent can schedule their student, a student can schedule themselves in advance, or we also have on-demand tutoring. We have pretty much every subject and grade level covered. Can’t guarantee we have it covered every shift of every day, but we have enough students where we can cover pretty much every subject and grade level.”

Moore said he hopes the program can be mutually beneficial for students and tutors.

“All the sessions are videos so we can use them as a learning experience too," Moore said. "If there’s any difficulties, we can coach them through different ways to approach the material. I think they’re also ready to move out of their comfort zone.”

With online learning being more prevalent than ever after Covid, Moore said the video format has its own value.

“We’ve been through a time with online learning, and it’s probably here to stay at least in some role in education moving forward," Moore said. "So, its good for them to get experience working with students, especially in an online environment to make sure that they can practice their craft.”

The program is run through Our Dakota Dreams, a college prep organization. Parents and students interested in tutoring can register at ourdakotadreams.com.

C.J. Keene is a Rapid City-based journalist covering the legal system, education, and culture