Slices of Life: High school student a math tutor
PA Cyber senior Rick Mearhoff takes classes that earn him credits at Montgomery County Community Co
Courtney H. Diener-Stokes, Reading Eagle correspondent
January 8, 2010
Rick Mearhoff, 18, Douglassville, isn't your typical high school student. He's working on his second associate's degree at Montgomery County Community College, his fellow college students seek him out for tutoring in various subjects - and he's only a senior in high school.
The son of Cheryl and Richard Mearhoff, Rick is the oldest of three children.
His siblings are Sarah, 13, and Chad, 16. Sarah attends University Scholars, part of the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School based in West Chester, and Chad attends the Hill Top Prep School in Rosemont, Montgomery County.
Rick takes two classes per year at Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School as part of his Gifted Individualized Education Plan, or GIEP, with the bulk of his classes coming from his college program, which he started when he was 15. He finished his associate's degree in liberal studies as he was wrapping up his junior year in high school. This May, he will complete his degree in math.
Rick started cyberstudies in fourth grade, after he excelled in traditional public school but no longer felt challenged.
He started attending college when his mother, an educator since 1984, started working as the director of dual enrollment at MCCC in '06 and realized the program was an option for him.
In the ninth grade, Rick placed at college level in all areas.
"I think it was the best option for me, because I was starting to get bored with cyberschool," he said. Most of Rick's course work is completed at the college's Pottstown campus.
About two years ago, one of the professors at MCCC realized Rick had a knack for explaining things to fellow students and suggested he would make a good tutor.
"She recommended me to the student center at the school, and I got hired there," he said. The Learning Assistance Center is where students get help with coursework.
Rick's students aren't the only ones who benefit from his tutoring skills.
"It gives me a much better grip on concepts myself," he said.
And getting paid is a nice perk for doing something he enjoys.
Rick sees another benefit to tutoring, "I really view it as a good experience for me, because I think when I get older I might want to be a college professor, and I think it's good practice for that."
His mother also sees the gratification he gets from tutoring.
"He gets excited when students do really well, because he was a part of it," Cheryl said.
The age difference between Rick and some of his pupils, particularly when first starting out at age 16, has thrown some students for a loop.
"When they find out, they are pretty shocked, but it doesn't really change anything," he said. He tutors students, typically ranging in age from 18 to 50 years old, in such subjects as calculus II, biology, astronomy and chemistry.
After graduating this year, Rick plans to transfer to a four-year school on the East Coast to study astronomy.
While he looks forward to being better prepared academically than most college freshmen, right now he's just like any other high school student who enjoys playing guitar, lacrosse and video games with friends in his spare time.
Original story: http://readingeagle.com/articlephotos.aspx?id=184582
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