West Melbourne Tutors

About West Melbourne

When you think of high school, what do you think of? Perhaps wooden desks and heavy bookbags come to mind. Perhaps sporting events, slamming locker doors, or the smell of a cafeteria flood your memories. Sadly, when many people think back on high school, they remember the emotional angst of adolescence. They might remember bullies, or hurt feelings they felt at the hands of their less-empathetic peers. Melbourne High School, of West Melbourne, however, wants its students to remember valuable friendships built in high school between unlikely people. This is why the Best Buddies Club exists.

The Best Buddies Club explains itself as a group that “creates opportunities for friendships between general education and exceptional education students.” In other words, academic achievement, which can often hinder friendships between students of different abilities, is deliberately overcome with the formation of the Best Buddies Club. High school is a place where cliques are formed, no doubt—and often, those cliques are based upon perceived social or economic differences. Best Buddies undermines the hierarchy that is artificially formed in high school by students who often don’t know any better.

Best Buddies is an international program that can be adapted by different schools, from elementary through high school. There are even chapters of Best Buddies at certain universities across the United States! Those with developmental disabilities are continually more accepted by their able-bodied and neurotypical peers, and with that, more embraced in society now more than they have ever been. According to their official website, “Best Buddies helps [the differently abled] form meaningful friendships with their peers, secure successful jobs, live independently, improve public speaking, self-advocacy and communications skills, and feel valued by society.” At Melbourne High School, this is especially true. Their chapter meets regularly, has a strong social media presence, and sets an example of tolerance to the rest of the student body.

In a way, Grade Potential tutors act as Best Buddies for their clients. Some of them may even be members of the club, officially, but they certainly don’t have to be to make the community a better place. With dedication and loyalty toward struggling students, tutors in West Melbourne help turn bad grades around and instill self-confidence in their clients. With tutoring, students can help form meaningful friendships, set the precedent for successful employment, teach academic independence, improve self-advocacy, and ultimately, help those with whom they work feel valued by their community—just like the Best Buddies of West Melbourne’s high school.