Weekend tutoring at Lynn school a surprise smash

LYNN – Gayle and Michael Bastarache, mother and son math teachers, were stunned when approximately 50 Marshall Middle School eighth-graders showed up for a Saturday morning math program.”I’m blown away,” said Classical High School calculus teacher Michael Bastarache. “Last week we had approximately 20. There is no real incentive for the kids to be here except extra help.”Two cases of water sat on a desk in a second-floor Marshall classroom. An open bag of Lifesavers spilled out over stacks of MCAS exams from 2010, 2011 and 2012 on another desk.”That’s it, they came for the water!” Gayle Bastarache joked.The middle schoolers actually came to be tutored in math by Michael Bastarache’s senior Advanced Placement calculus students in preparation for the spring MCAS exams.View photos from a recent classThe Bastaraches launched the program, which they merely facilitate, after Gayle Bastarache noted that her students could use some extra help and Michael Bastarache’s students showed an interest in tutoring.As students come in for the program, high schoolers settle in with small groups of eighth-graders and scatter between two classrooms. The Bastaraches move between the rooms handing out practice tests and pencils, and fielding the odd question.”The kids really do all the work,” Gayle Bastarache said. “We’re just here to monitor.”Classical High School senior Joseph Fields said he got involved after his teacher, Michael Bastarache, announced he was looking for volunteers. Fields, who hopes to major in pre-med next fall, said he likes math because there is only one answer.”If you teach something like English, then really things are open for interpretation,” he said.Fields spent the morning coaching Alexander Velez and Kevin Fafulovic through a variety of math problems. Velez said he came because he had nothing else to do on a Saturday morning, but Fafulovic, admitted he needed the extra help.Across the classroom Kassandra Lopez echoed Fafulovic.”I don’t get math,” she said. “I need the help.”Messeret Kebede, also a senior in AP calculus, said she was happy to deliver the help Lopez and her classmates needed.”I really like helping, and that satisfaction you feel when you help people find that right answer,” she said.Gayle Bastarache said she thinks the program works because it takes students out of the craziness of a typical school day and puts them in a more relaxed atmosphere. Some of the rules that students must adhere to during the week are also relaxed, they can wear hats and be themselves, she said.Using old MCAS tests helps the students become familiar with the exams so that when they see it in the spring they will be more confident, Bastarache added.Velez said he tries to treat the MCAS like any other exam but Rodriguez said she needs to get better before the big test.”They all want to be good,” Bastarache said. “They all want to be smart, you just have to show them how.”The program, which is open only to Marshall eighth-graders, runs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. every other Saturday until the MCAS test. The next class will be this Saturday, Feb. 2.”We’re not really doing anything groundbreaking,” said Gayle Bastarache. “We have some hard tests and water, but the program is just a win/win for everyone.”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].