Home

About Us

The Bull City Scholars Program provides the opportunity for undergraduate students at Duke University to partake in a mentor-mentee relationship with students at Neal Middle School through tutoring both within classes and during after school programs. This relationship provides additional academic and social support for students from under-resourced communities in the Durham Public Schools. Also, this program instills in undergraduate students a greater understanding of educational disparities present within Durham Public Schools through participation in a house course and service learning engagement at Neal Middle School.

Thus far, the Bull City Scholars Program has successfully established relationships with Neal Middle School administration, and undergraduate University Scholars have begun working with students on a weekly basis. The undergraduate Duke students have started assisting teachers in math, ELA, and science classes by working with students on a more individualized basis, targeting the specific strengths and weaknesses of those students. And mentoring sessions have begun during the after-school program at Neal Middle School, during which University Scholars provide additional homework assistance while striving to develop mentor-mentee relationships with the students.

The house course is meant to prepare future members of the Bull City Scholars program for tutoring and mentoring in Durham Public Schools. The course is geared towards learning about barriers to college access and models of service-learning. The course features frequent conversations about the development and implementation of the tutoring/mentoring program in local middle schools. By engaging with readings, class discussions, guest speakers, and a variety of media, students begin to understand the history of public education in the city of Durham, the demographic and socioeconomic shifts that have impacted the community over the past 20 years, and the particular challenges to college access that students facing multiple barriers face.

The Bull City Scholars program hopes to further develop its relationship with Neal Middle School. A key guideline of the program is providing consistency so as membership grows the club will require mentors to commit to tutoring weekly. To further the goal of consistency the program may begin pairing mentors and mentees for three years; this timeline will allow Bull City Scholars to take the house course during their freshman year and begin tutoring sophomore year, staying with their mentee for the entirety of their middle school time. The Bull City Scholars Program may also expand to  other schools in the area if member size allows it. The future of the program is malleable though, keeping in touch with the program’s goal of providing help in the way the middle schoolers need it, not coming in with predisposed assumptions.

Partner With Us

Prospective Tutors

We are always happy to have new members join our team. If you would like to get involved with Bull City Scholars, either as a tutor at Neal Middle School or through our house course exploring challenges in education, please reach out to the individuals below.

 

Tutoring

Natalie Rincon natalie.rincon@duke.edu

House Course

Aden R. Klein aden.klein@duke.edu

As a tutor, you will need to sign up for a weekly 2 hour shift at Neal. We can provide transportation for you to and from Neal for the shift you sign up for. You are expected to keep this commitment except under extenuating circumstances, in which case we ask you to let your driver know. Being a tutor is an incredibly rewarding experience: you get the chance to be a mentor and role model for students at an early age and get them to start thinking about college as a possibility in their future.

The house course will prepare undergraduates at Duke University to create a service-learning project for the University Scholars Program.  The course will be geared towards developing a college access program for middle school students in under-resourced middle school schools in the Durham Public School system. By engaging with readings, class discussions, guest speakers, and films, students will begin to understand the history of public education in the city of Durham, the demographic and infrastructural shifts that have impacted the community over the past 20 years, and the particular challenges to college access that students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds face.

 

Prospective School Partners

Bull City Scholars seeks to provide resources, mentoring, and academic support to Durham public middle schools, primarily those in under-resourced areas. If your school would like to partner with our program and receive support from our tutors, please reach out to Dr. Lodewick at victoria.lodewick@duke.edu.

Resources

Tutor Portal

This page is the home for all BCS tutors. We will post up to date schedules, driver information, Uber reimbursement process information, and other resources as they become necessary or available.

Schedule and Driver Crew Assignments

2019 Fall BCS Schedule