In December 2023, Andrew Li, a junior at Germantown Friends School (GFS) and a voracious reader, scanned a newsletter from Laurel House, the Montgomery County shelter for families who have experienced domestic violence. One item piqued his interest.

“The newsletter said that they were looking for volunteers,” said Li, who learned Laurel House needed tutors for resident children. That need dovetailed with a key goal of both Li and Vern Tutoring, a nonprofit run by high school students. According to Vern’s website, which lists Li as one of its four international directors, Vern provides “free educational resources and opportunities for elementary and middle-school students in the U.S. and abroad through tutoring, fundraising, and volunteering in local communities.”rough

Launched by a group of Texas high school students during the pandemic, Vern offers free in-person tutoring as well as online courses. This spring’s eight-week online courses include “Intro to Creative Writing” for grades 5 to 7, “The Power of Pre-Algebra” for grades 3 to 8, “Research,” for all grade levels, and more. 

For students, by students

Still run by high schoolers, Vern now has branches in seven U.S. states, plus Hong Kong, Germany, and Canada. Li and two friends founded the Pennsylvania branch in 2022.

For Li, tutoring at a shelter was a twofer, fulfilling the organization’s goals of providing academic aid as well as community service. Part of Vern’s core mission includes Vern raising awareness of and helping families suffering from domestic violence. 

Li, with other GFS students, tutored school-age children at Laurel House for 16 months. His eager GFS colleagues included James Hoveland, 16, a sophomore, and Jonathan Yang, a past tutor.

For Hoveland, community service is a familiar part of the GFS curriculum. “In middle school, we cleaned up a graveyard,” he said. “It was fun.” Like other GFS students, he has also taken part in food drives and other service projects from an early age. “I wasn’t too nervous about [Laurel House], Hoveland said. “I’m good friends with Andrew, and we would be working together.”

In addition, life gave Hoveland experience in helping younger children. “When I was young, my father passed away,” he said. “I’ve been a mentor for my younger brother. Volunteering at Laurel House is like being a big sibling all over again.”

GFS tutors take their cue from Laurel House kids for each day’s session. Tutors can’t make a lesson plan because they don’t know which kids will attend, or what they’ll need. Tutors answer questions about homework, sometimes play games like Monopoly, and offer thoughtful attention. 

“I do a lot of debate,” said Li, who founded a debate team at GFS. “People are forced to listen to you. But everyone deserves to be listened to. We try to be a place of stability where the kids can make themselves heard.” Tutors meet with the children a few times a week for about an hour.

Learning goes both ways

Volunteering benefits the tutors as well as the kids, Hoveland said. “It’s very helpful to practice patience, to open up and be more thoughtful, more empathetic.”

Li recalled an imaginative, hopeful student who liked to draw frogs. “I learned a lot of drawing techniques from him,” Li said. “All the tutors have said that they gained a lot by participating in the project.”  

While tutors pointed out rewards, they also faced hurdles. “Many of us don’t drive, although I just got my license,” Li said. Parents often stepped in as chauffeurs.   

Another challenge seemed to affect the tutors more deeply. “You might go in looking for a kid who was there the week before, and they’re gone,” Hoveland said. “We don’t know where they are because of the rules of confidentiality. Laurel House protects their privacy.”

Last August brought a respite from studies, sports, and community service for Li and Hoveland. Hoveland, a pianist with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra (PYO) and Li, an award-winning associate principal cellist with the PYO, joined a trip to Orvieto, Italy, organized by internationally renowned cellist George Atanasiu. 

 “We practiced 11 hours a day in Orvieto,” Hoveland said. “A bus drove us to different venues [to perform].” Despite all the travel and practice, the musicians got their share of exercise. “The hotel was at the foot of a mountain and the restaurant was at the top,” Hoveland said. “We had to walk up. We managed to get in a day trip to Florence.”

For Vern volunteers at GFS, the work goes on year-round. Last summer, they partnered with Stony Creek Elementary School in Blue Bell in a book drive. The schools’ families donated more than 1,000 new and gently used children’s books, which Vern tutors distributed to three shelters, including Laurel House. “The children may not have access to books,” Li said. 

Li and Hoveland take their accomplishments in stride. “Anyone can make a start [in tackling big issues],” Li said. “At my age, you have the ability to do something that can benefit other people.”

Besides directly helping Laurel House families, Vern tutors are pushing for heightened awareness of domestic violence through a petition expanding Pennsylvania’s Act 55 mandate of domestic violence education to high schools. The act currently requires all the state’s colleges and universities to partner with local rape crisis centers and domestic violence programs. 

For more information or to support Vern’s petition, visit change.org.