Ravi Sankar

Ravi Sankar is a high school student, but he has been teaching SAT Math for over two years now. This year, as a freshman, he received a perfect 800 on the math section. He teaches youth of many ages and skill levels, although most are high school students. Ravi is truly dedicated to giving his community as much knowledge as he possibly can. Every Sunday morning at 7:20 he teaches for about two hours at the Chinmaya Mission of Central Florida, which is something like a Hindu Sunday School. Most of the students are Indian although the class is open to anyone. In addition, two Saturdays a month he teaches a local public school for two hours at 10:00 AM. The Crooms Academy is a magnet program focusing on IT. Here Ravi teaches a diverse group of children SAT Math, helping those who cannot afford the extremely pricey Kaplan and Princeton Review classes. Ravi’s dedication to the community is truly commendable.

As a result of Ravi’s efforts, there has been a marked improvement in SAT Math scores and grades in Math classes as well. Some children’s scores have risen as much as 200 points in the math section alone in as few as six months. The review of fundamental material that students get has also helped some improve the grades they were getting in school. The most common benefit to children is that they improve their speed and accuracy. These two skills are crucial to succeeding on the SAT, but they must be combined. Accuracy and speed both improve quickly as Ravi helps the students practice SAT Math, benefiting them greatly in the long run. By improving their SAT scores, they can dramatically increase their chances of getting scholarship money and getting into the college of their choice. Thus, Ravi’s contributions have made an enormous impact on the lives of many students.

Many students volunteer merely because they need to for school. They go to the hospital and sort files or greet young children at the Orlando Science Center. While this is great, Ravi’s contribution is specifically targeted to better the children’s lives through education. He has given crucial knowledge to other children that can ultimately help them become more successful in live. It truly requires the highest form of dedication to others for a ninth grader like Ravi to have spent so much of his time over the last two years to bestow this knowledge upon so many children. As a teenager, he could make sports or clubs a priority; however, Ravi utilizes his free time to serve.