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IS FOR
ALHAMBRA
With tutoring program staffed by GCU students,
multicultural high school is aiming for excellence
– Stories by Janie Magruder
C
yrus McMullen
wheels his bike to the door with great aplomb, wavy brown hair flapping in the breeze,
fists deftly steering the handlebars, legs moving the back wheels in a half-circle-skid along the sidewalk.
Setting the lock and grabbing his backpack, the teen enters the building, shows his ID and strides
confidently to a break area at the back, grabbing a cup of water and a granola bar.
DeeSember Corrales
smiles and calls hello to Cyrus from her work station,
where a white eraser board and slim markers await. He plops down across
from her, yanks his binder and homework from his backpack, and they get
down to business: Algebra I. Soon, DeeSember is recording his goals and
progress, setting his appointment for the next day, and sending him on his way.
Cyrus is among an estimated 130 students – many American-born
like he is, but also refugees from the Congo, Kenya, Mexico, Myanmar,
Somalia, Thailand and elsewhere – who have received free tutoring at
Grand Canyon University’s Learning Lounge since its Sept. 16 opening.
Operating at the start in a large space just off campus, the center
is staffed by GCU student tutors who help students at nearby
Alhambra High School learn math, reading and writing well
enough to pass Arizona’s high school graduation test. Perhaps
as importantly, the tutors help Cyrus and others think ahead to
college, careers and community.
Cyrus comes to the Learning Lounge nearly every afternoon, and
in just a few short weeks, he and DeeSember have built a rapport.
Outwardly, they don’t have much in common. But as freshmen in their
respective schools, each has faced the angst of unfamiliarity. They
share a social generation as Millennials and a birth order as the eldest
in their families. They’re both from west Phoenix and have been
moved around in their short lives.
GCU student DeeSember Corrales tutors 15-year-old Cyrus McMullen in an after-school session at the Learning Lounge, a partnership between
the University and nearby Alhambra High School. Photo by Darryl Webb
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