Tiffany Kim and Tucker Reynolds have broadened their focus from searching for the right college to starting their own business, Titanium Tutors.
In addition to being near the top of their class academically, the Palisades High School seniors are also active in extracurricular activities. Reynolds will be the student body president and is involved in the PaliHi’s drama program, and Kim will be student body vice president and plays soccer and lacrosse.
Reynolds, who grew up in the Palisades and Kim in Culver City, met at Paul Revere Middle School. They came up with the idea for Titanium Tutors last December.
“After witnessing a particularly painful AP exam season at Pali in the spring, we were inspired to create a company to help our friends and peers,” Reynolds said.
With encouragement from their leadership teacher, Chris Lee, the students settled on a name, created a Web site (titanium-tutors.com) and filed for their fictitious business license.
“We are so thrilled about our company,” said Reynolds, whose favorite subjects are biology and calculus. “We currently have six tutors, all of whom are active and successful students at PaliHi, and several clients, but we’re hoping to expand to more people in the Palisades and beyond.”
A Titanium Tutor must have a 4.0 GPA or higher and have a greater than average knowledge in a variety of subjects. Each tutor is paid $20 an hour and tutor students from elementary to high school.
“Our company is unique in that it is a peer tutor program,” said Kim, whose favorite subjects are environmental science and U.S. history. “We believe that students often understand other students’ struggles and methods of thinking better than conventional tutors. We have been there and know the ins-and-outs of each class. For instance, in AP calculus we know that the quizzes weigh heavier than the tests and we focus more on those instead.”
“We love our school and community,” says Reyonlds. “So we will donate 10 percent of all our profits directly to our ASB (leadership) fund in hopes that we can not only better unify our school with business, but also help the students at Pali have a more enjoyable experience at school. We believe that our business is a great testament to the extraordinary things that young people can achieve even while still in school.”
This fall, in addition to tutoring, leadership, drama and sports, Kim and Reynolds will also take AP literature, AP statistics, AP U.S. government and politics and honor physics, as they start the college application process but they do have a 4.3 and 4.28 grade point average after taking advanced placement and honors classes. Neither has decided where they would like to go or their major.
Visit: titanium-tutors.com or e-mail: titaniumtutors@gmail.com.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
