reprinted from the Legal Equestrian
Around this time of year only one thing is on every equestrian’s mind: Wellington. Some of us are lucky enough to spend our entire winter down in horse paradise while the rest of us are stuck up in the cold, windy, rainy, and snowy weather cursing our bank accounts and wondering why we couldn’t be more privileged…. maybe that’s just me.
Obviously if you live in New York or New Hampshire, WEF isn’t just a drive down the street – it’s more like a drive down I-95. For those that don’t live in the Wellington area, showing at WEF means leaving their home and school environment behind, but that doesn’t mean education stops. Many WEF riders participate in non-traditional schooling options during their time in Wellington so that their schooling doesn’t suffer while they are racking up points and winning ribbons.
This is also an option for those riders that show year-round and are never really in one place long enough to attend a traditional school. Private tutors and online schooling are two of the most popular options for riders who have a heavy riding and showing schedule.
We were lucky enough to interview Gina Marie Mondel who runs Horse Show Tutor, a small boutique style tutoring service that caters to the academic needs of equestrians who frequently miss school to travel to horse shows.
The majority of my students utilize my tutoring services during WEF during the winter circuit. Through one-on-one private tutoring sessions, my students are able to fulfill their academic needs despite being away from the classroom, whether for just a week or several months,” Gina Marie said in an email. “In addition to keeping students current with all their homework, tests, and quizzes, Horse Show Tutor also maintains communication with all students’ schools and teachers, minimizing the school’s burden and also ensuring a smooth transition back into the classroom.”
Horse Show Tutor is mostly concentrated on the WEF circuit, but she also tutors throughout the spring and fall competitions, especially during equitation finals and indoors. In addition to tutoring, Horse Show Tutor also edits papers for students of all levels, including some who are now in college.
Gina Marie Mondel runs Horse Show Tutor, a private tutoring service for equestrians competing at WEF.
Gina Marie Mondel runs Horse Show Tutor, a private tutoring service for equestrians competing at WEF.
All of this sounds pretty great, but not every equestrian parent or traditional school is amenable to the idea of missing school to ride ponies or horses all day. What’s the best way to approach one’s parents about hiring a private tutor so that the rider can pursue his or her dream of full-time showing?
“I always encourage students to be prepared when approaching the topic of private tutoring with their parents,” Gina Marie said. “Do research on tutoring options as well as the pros and cons of private tutoring. Parents will be impressed if a student is able to present a fact-based argument as to why private tutoring is a good option.”
Gina Marie also said that she often assists prospective students in presenting the private tutoring option to their parents, which makes the whole talk seem a lot less scary, especially if the rider thinks his or her parents won’t be too keen on the idea at first.
Schools often aren’t too pleased with the idea of a student missing a whole semester to go ride horses or ponies in Florida. However, there are ways to approach one’s school about a non-traditional education option for part of the year. Mostly, a student should be “gentle” about the proposal of attending WEF and missing school for an extended period of time.
Gina Marie also thinks that it is best for a student’s parents to get involved in the process, so a rider should probably approach their parents about the subject before approaching their school about it. If the school still doesn’t seem too happy with the idea, Gina Marie is always happy to step in and help.
“With over 15 years of experience working with both public and private schools throughout the Unites States and Canada, I have been successful in gaining the support and cooperation of numerous schools,” she said. “As a neutral third party with extensive experience, many times the schools are more open to listening to me than a biased parent and/or student.”
Most of Gina Marie’s students start and end the school year in their hometown schools. Gina Marie simply helps the students stay caught up on their work during the intensive show season by sending all completed work back to the school on a regular basis. The rider’s hometown school teachers will grade the completed work on a weekly basis. This allows the rider to have a “seamless” transition back into the traditional classroom once horse show season is complete. In fact, Gina Marie’s students complete the same assignments and exams as their fellow students at home and in the same time frame. The only difference is location.
Private tutoring and horse showing also is a highlight on a student’s resume when it comes time to enroll in college. Because the transition between private tutoring while horse showing and hometown school is so seamless, it does not affect a rider’s ability to enroll in higher education.
“I have reached out to admissions departments of many colleges throughout the United States to be best informed about their acceptance process,” Gina Marie said. “Many admissions departments want to see interesting experiences and characteristics of students that set them apart from the mainstream student.”
What started out as a way to earn a few extra dollars while in Wellington one winter turned into a passion for Gina Marie. She started tutoring as a way to make extra money while she was a freshman in college and spending her winter at WEF. She landed a job working with a local tutoring service and fell in love with it. Her fluke winter job turned into a passion with her own twist – personalized service and attention to each and every student.
Gina Marie loves being able to combine her passion for horses with her passion for teaching. Photo Credit to HorseShowTutor.com
While Gina Marie focuses on English, History, and Spanish, and she has a team of wonderful tutors that help teach all of her students’ varying subjects. Horse Show Tutor accepts students of all ages. She’s tutored students as young as 5, and she has many college-aged students who send her papers to edit.
If you dream of showing at WEF and aren’t sure how to approach your loved ones about a non-traditional school option so that you can live in Wellington for the winter, here are some advantages to private tutoring to help you get started on “that talk”:
Tutoring is more fun because it is casual, flexible, and has more freedom without compromising your education;
Students take less time to learn and comprehend new material because the tutoring is one-on-one;
The tutor and the student have an “andragogy” relationship, which Gina Marie explains is one where the tutor and student are viewed as equals and contribute equally to the material covered in the session. This is opposed to the normal teacher-student relationship, which is “pedagogy,” or teacher as superior and in control of the class and everything presented during it.
Your return to your hometown school will be seamless, and you will stay on track with your classwork and exams as if you were at home.
So for those of you dreaming of showing at WEF but unsure how you’ll also keep up with school, there is an answer – and it’s a good one: Horse Show Tutor!
If you are interested in Gina Marie’s private tutoring service, you can find her on the web here. She can also be found on Twitter. If this article hasn’t convinced you that Horse Show Tutor is one of the best out there, you can check out Horse Show Tutor’s testimonial page here!
Happy horse showing (and studying)!