Angelina’s journey to make students ‘feel felt’

Who We Are

Felt (Foreign English Language Tutoring) Initiative is a high-school/college-based, student-led virtual tutoring program that works to connect foreign students with native English speakers to tear open language barriers and make students 'feel felt'. Our tutor team is made up of dedicated and passionate individuals who take pride in their teaching. 

Through our program, we strive to teach students skills applicable to real-life, which include the basics of conversations (and how to hold deeper-level conversations), day-to-day vocabulary words, how to answer interview questions for jobs, and more. Together, we are working to provide an outlet for students, tutors, and peers alike to celebrate their own cultures and become immersed in others. 

Our aim is to work alongside students to improve their language skills and provide them with necessary language skills to thrive in the future as a program, as mentors, and most importantly, as friends! 

To date, we have built over 150 student-tutor relationships across various countries.

The Beginnings

Starting Felt Initiative in May 2021 was a lengthy but undoubtedly engaging process. Constructing the framework of the nonprofit from scratch was exciting for me and being able to provide this English tutoring at no cost was especially important. I’ve found that my happiest moments were seeing the positive reactions of the tutors, students, and parents as well as seeing the tight-knit, incredibly supportive community that we’ve built that continues to thrive today. 

The Board

Above all, I’m incredibly thankful to the entire Felt Initiative board. I’m confident that none of this would be possible without them and I feel lucky to be able to grow this nonprofit with them by my side.

Favorite Part

My favorite part of leading this nonprofit is the biweekly meetings! I love getting to interact personally with the tutors through meetings whether it’s during check-ins or with our games that we play at the end of each meeting. Games of Spyfall and Codenames get exciting and it’s fun being able to chat with everyone.

Tutor Stories

Tutors make up the core of our organization. So, I encourage you to take a look at some of our Felt Tutor Takes and Felt Tutor Takeovers from old and new tutors, where our tutors share their experiences with our organization on Instagram. They are representative of what our organization stands for and besides, they’re enjoyable to watch!

Chloe: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkBK6gBukCf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

Trinity: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChzuMgbu1Qw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

Chelsea: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChNNX26OuTY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Syd: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgcNlwXOn8u/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link  

Process of Becoming a Tutor

All Felt Initiative tutors are not required to have any second language or tutoring experience but they must go through an application process and a short, informal interview. Once accepted, tutors will attend a tutor seminar where they will learn everything they need to know about engaging with students. We ensure that tutors will be well-equipped: we have platforms dedicated towards the tutors, over 50 custom lessons of ranging levels and lesson resources for tutors to access, and each tutor will be assigned to a Branch Director that will guide them throughout the entire process. 

Website: https://feltinitiative.org/