Brandan Pierce!
There are so very many delightful things about this fall’s Tutoring Intern, Brandan Pierce, that it’s hard to contemplate collecting them all in one place. (We worry that it could overload your delight circuits.)
Aside from Brandan’s:
- inimitable sense of style (we particularly enjoy his baseball hat that says, simply, “Cake and Ice Cream” — a statement, we think, that needs no elaboration)
- endless supply of amusing cross-country anecdotes from tours with his band
and
- gleefully unabashed indulgence of geeky tendencies
he also has an unparalleled ability to make our after-school tutoring program both fun and productive for students of all ages and personalities.
When a student first walks into the tutoring lab, she’ll see a whiteboard easel with a lovely drawing and a statement like “Welcome to the Simple Seaside of Tutoring!” or “Welcome to the Verdant Forest of Tutoring!”. Brandan will greet her with a cheerful, personal hello, then match her with one of our stellar corps of volunteer tutors. After completing her homework, she’ll have the chance to respond to a super-cool BotJot writing prompt like “If you were a condiment, what condiment would you be and why?” (Brandan reports that he himself would be ketchup powder because of his “dry sense of humor”). If she happens to show her BotJot to Brandan (many do), he’ll respond with such enthusiasm that she’ll be inspired on to even greater heights of writing about condiments! When tutoring ends, Brandan will stick around as she gathers her books and coat and then wish her goodbye as she leaves.
Yeah. It’s pretty great.
Brandan is a skilled and well-organized educator who is able to balance the many demands of overseeing the day-to-day aspects of a program while maintaining a sunny, warm attitude that makes his a very welcome presence at 826michigan. Students love him. Tutors love him. We all love him!
(Oh and did we mention that Brandan stepped into the role of Tutoring Intern this September with, oh, about three days’ notice? That’s a superstar for ya!)
Brandan, thanks so much for spending this fall with us. With you around, 826michigan is a funner, funnier, geekier, teach-ier, and more welcoming place.