On October 8, SASS held its first tutor/student picnic at the home of SASS supporter Mary Lou Schiavo. About 40 people attended including tutors, students, and students’ family members. New tutor Erika Pretell was one of many tutors who expressed her enthusiasm for the program.

"I've been a SASS tutor for less than a month, but already I love it and look forward to meeting each week with my tutoring partner, Diana," says SASS tutor Erika Pretell. "I was a bit nervous before we met because I had never tutored anyone before, but my student is smart, motivated, and hard-working, so that makes my job pretty easy."

Thus far this semester, forty SASS recipients are receiving help from a SASS tutor -- up from eight students just two years ago.

The meteoric growth of the SASS tutoring program is attributable to two factors: word about the tutoring program has spread among recipients so more are requesting tutors, and SASS has become more adept at using community resources to recruit tutors.