Photo Courtesy of Wright College's Director of Public Relations, Angela O'Connor.
Jeremiah Bridges is Wilbur Wright College’s very first Director of Academic Support Services. But what does that exactly mean? It means that his job entails looking over all of the tutoring services. To make sure that all of the students’ needs are met accordingly, to innovate new ways of bettering the tutoring services, to advertise the times and locations of tutoring services, etc.
Jeremiah Bridges has an extensive background in education and teaching students. He obtained his Bachelor of Science from Illinois Institute of Technology and then a Masters in Education from National Louis University. Bridges taught math at Wells, a Chicago Public High School, taught in Istanbul, Turkey, and then tutored students at Wilbur Wright College for two years. He has over three hundred hours of Spanish classes, also along with learning Spanish from his time abroad in Costa Rica.
Bridges said that he wanted this position because he loves hearing from the students, data analysis, and the managerial aspect of the job. He plans on trying to change the perspective of tutoring and giving students the tools and resources to strengthen their skills in the weaker area of study.
Bridges’ has started making positive changes in the tutoring centers by hiring a diverse set of tutors that all together can speak over ten languages. He has the tutors making classroom visits to the math and science classes to advertise the services of the tutoring center and to let students know that it’s never too early to get help.
The tutoring services include the Math Center (L400), Academic Support Center (A245), and the Writing Center (L213). To assess students accordingly, the tutors use the Aleks math program, which at the end of the assessment test, give a pie chart of the students’ strength and weaknesses in the subject of math. Once that is found out, the tutors plan out how to help the students learn the subjects or sections in which they struggle on the most. The tutors are there to help students learn ways to get the answer themselves, not to give answers.
The best way to make an appointment is to come in and schedule a time, but students can also make appointments over the phone. Their hours are Monday through Thursday 9:00 AM until 8:00 PM, Friday and Saturday 10AM