Founder’s Message:

Dear Fellow Parent,

My name is Eric Ursich and I founded Tutor Train. I have some thoughts I would enjoy sharing. Now I realize that a long letter is not the usual style for a Web site. Please understand that you can find out everything you need to know about Tutor Train throughout this site without having to keep reading here.

But we parents need to share parenting tips, viewpoints and – once in a while – even our life philosophies. I will be very pleased if you decide to hang in here with me for a few moments. Otherwise, I invite you to use the menu at the top to continue learning about Tutor Train.

When I began Tutor Train, I decided that my new venture must be something people wanted or needed. It must be something that I believe in – passionately. It must also be something that would allow my daughters to some day look at their friends – start a sentence with “My Dad does . . .” – and be proud to tell the story.

Finally, I wanted to make a difference in this world. In my humble opinion, education is the foundation of every culture and society on our planet. What better way to make a difference than to be at the very nucleus of our progress? Teachers are, of course, the instruments of education. Regardless of our advances in information technology, I maintain that it will always be a human being influencing another human being that will make learning stick.

Now I am privileged to surround myself with inspired and inspiring teachers. I respect them, I cherish them, and I get to share their gifts and their own inherent desires to help people and make their differences in the world. These are Tutor Train people. If they don’t share my philosophy, they simply cannot become our tutors. Their prime motivator must be the joy of teaching.

I also appreciate our clients. I came to realize that children spend a tremendous part of their waking hours devoted to school. School is their world, and thus their young life is tied to their success or failure there. When they fall behind, their reaction is usually quite dramatic, as is that of their parents. Calls to us almost always express the pain of watching beloved children struggle. But every call is from a parent who is reaching out to do something for their child.

The solution of providing a child with a personal teacher makes the tutor not just “the class’s teacher,” but “my teacher!” For high school students or college students and even for adults, our 1-to-1 approach allows the tutor to listen, observe and analyze how the individual student processes information. With this understanding, the tutor can then present and explain the material in a way that is easier for the student to understand and remember.

My greatest satisfaction with my efforts to make Tutor Train the best it can possibly be usually comes from phone calls. I get calls from tutors reporting, “Wow, my student got it!  It was definitely that light bulb turning on! Thanks for giving me the opportunity, Eric!” Then I get calls from parents who tell me, “I can’t keep my child out of the library now – and before Tutor Train, I was certain he would never read.”  Then there is the caller who tells me “Thank you so much – Susie is smiling again.” Or, better still, “Susie is herself again.” Think about that: “Susie is herself again.” Wow!

I know this might sound quite exuberant, but I think I just might have the greatest job in the world. Now, how can Tutor Train help you?

Cordially,

Eric J. Ursich