Extraordinary academic resources create extraordinary students

The Academic Center is a place that all students can visit before school, at lunch, or after school for academic help or tutoring.

Sean Gallagher,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

From MAST (math and science tutoring) to the Academic Center, Davis High offers a variety of academic resources necessary resources to succeed for free. Because of such an abundance of opportunities, finding the most helpful one can be time consuming and difficult.

Tucked beneath the staircase of the east entrance to the L-wing, the Academic Center offers a place for students to get free tutoring from UC Davis students as well as all the necessary resources to succeed at Davis High. 

“I always tell students that if you somehow miraculously forget to bring your backpack, you can come to the Academic Center because we have all the resources you need,” administrator Elodia Alavez said.

Alvarez notes that a common misconception is that the Academic Center is a place reserved for English learners. Not only is it open to everyone, the Academic Center is also a place for AP and honors help. 

“If I don’t quite understand a topic during class, I can go to the Academic Center, before school, during lunch and after school giving me more time to study,” junior Diego Perez said.

Adjacent to the Academic Center is the library, which offers many of the same educational assets. “The library may not have as many resources as the Academic Center, but the computers are faster and printing is much easier,” Perez said. 

Perez prefers to study on campus rather than at the nearby Yolo County library due to its louder environment.

However, not all resources at Davis High meet the needs for all students. Some have found the newly constructed All Student Center to be a challenging environment to focus in.

“The All Student Center is not a great place to study because my friends can be very distracting. Also, I feel like there are lots of other people in there that are sometimes loud,” junior Corrine DeJong said. “The All Student Center is nice though because there are lots of tables to sit at.”

The chemistry room houses MAST, a unique, student-run program that provides an alternative to the typical study areas.

“My favorite part of the club is witnessing both the student being tutored and the tutor benefiting from the sessions. I also enjoy having other students help me with the job of teaching,” said MAST adviser and chemistry teacher David Van Muyden.

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