A session with the MaxPotentialLearning team.
MaxPotentialLearning managed by student tutors
– Since February 2023, tutoring service MaxPotentialLearning has provided services for students ranging from assistance with mathematics and science to SAT prep work. Templeton High school senior Max Joukovski founded the business, which now has a total of five tutors who make up the team, with two other students focused on middle school mathematics help.
“We, as a group of high school students, aren’t just here to help people get their grades up. Part of what we preach is mastering the practice of learning. Test taking, time management, and finding ways to not suffer through school work are more important than the grade on any one test. We are here to help students find their love for learning, and we know that such a love will look different for every student,” said Joukovski, adding that “we would like the community to understand that we are not strictly doing this for the profit…our schools and community fostered our growth and ultimately paved our path for success that we want to give back and help foster a love for school and learning.”
Over 40 students are tutored one-on-one by their tutors each week in a variety of subjects. Just a handful of subjects available include calculus, physics, algebra, engineering, honors English, and more; free homework help within 24 hours is also offered. Workshops for free SAT prep assistance and college application help are provided. MaxPotentialLearning works with the Templeton Library for learning materials. Free after-school math tutoring for Templeton Middle School students is also provided by students of the business, Audrey Higgins and Payton Ecklund.
A tutoring session led by a MaxPotentialLearning tutor.
“We would also like the community to understand that we are not strictly doing this for the profit. We’ve been running free workshops, orchestrating free after school help for middle schoolers, and running free seminars for college bound seniors at the high school…this business is one, a passion project, two, my way of helping the students of my community, [and] three, a chance for me and my partners to learn how to grow a business, provide a valuable service, and experience the difficulties of running a startup,” said Joukovski, who studied at the Russian School of Math for ten years.
Joukovski started the tutoring company during his junior year of high school at 16 years old; his first tutee was for a geometry class. At the start of his senior year, Joukovski partnered with fellow student Kerry Denzel to expand the business; Joukovski notes that she “is the shining star behind MaxPotentialLearning…[we] worked together day in and day out to develop systems to nurture client leads, efficiently manage vast numbers of students, and track [and] communicate progress to our students’ parents.” The other tutors include Katie Denissen, Lexi Denzel, Skye Davis, and Nikita Norton; they are all qualified with high GPAs, participate in academic extracurriculars, and more.
“[There are] two parts of tutoring that really make it feel like a passion more than a job. When our students have that ‘aha!’ moment and we can see the dots connect, it is an incredibly rewarding feeling. Knowing that we are actually helping students understand concepts feels like the golden star of tutoring. The other most rewarding part of tutoring is when students, or more often past students, interact with us outside of a student [and] tutor relationship. Building connections with the students and families that we are tutoring helps us enjoy the work that we are putting in, and ultimately makes it feel like our work as tutors is fun as opposed to feeling like work,” Joukovski said.
Tutors cover a variety of subjects.
After graduation, Joukovski will attend the University of Texas in Austin to study engineering, while Denzel will attend California Polytechnic State University. The two will continue to foster the growth of the tutoring comany during their future studies.
“In the blink of an eye, MaxPotentialLearning has grown to be a pillar of academic in Templeton…we’ve become a unit of students working hard to ensure that every student has easy access to tutors who understand the subject matter, excel in making younger students feel safe and supported, and genuinely care about the success of each individual student…We are committed to [supporting] our community in more impactful ways as we continue to grow bigger. We hope to provide an entrepreneurship scholarship starting at Templeton High School next year, and we will continue to find ways to funnel support back into our community,” Joukovski said.
There are three tiers for a tutoring plan; an individual session is $55 an hour, personalized test prep is $60 an hour, and a monthly plan is $200.
For more information about MaxPotentialLearning, call (805) 704–2631 or visit their website here.
