
By Anne W. Semmes
There are two young men entering their senior year at Greenwich High School inspired not only by their own education but desiring to educate others. To that end, Harrison Wolfe and Thomas Milititsky have founded a non-profit tutoring organization, Greenwich Academics.
“Harrison and I have obviously gone to school for a while,” says Milititsky, “and we know the impact that a good teacher could have, and their ability to instruct their students on how to think.” But their tutoring endeavor they see as “more of an interpersonal kind of dynamic and less of a teaching dynamic,” he notes. “We just enjoy being able to connect with these students and help them succeed in school.”
This tutoring comes naturally to these two founders. “So, for most of my high school time, I’ve been giving tutor classes to local students,” says Milititsky. “Most times it’d be a friend of my mom’s, with one of their kids needing help with math, and I think Harrison can relate to that. He was also giving a lot of classes. And so last year we came together and decided that we would direct our efforts towards more helping our community rather than do it for our own profits.”
“So, the tutoring services are all free,” tells Milititsky, “and the money we have goes towards funding the websites.” “So, all of our tutoring sessions,” Wolfe explains, “are conducted on Zoom, which is a video conferencing site. And the way that people sign up for the initial session, is we meet the parents of the kids who need to be tutored and we learn about what they’re expecting.” And the scheduling, “is all done through Calendly, a software that allows you to pick a time.”
Count to date some 35 students their team of 25 high school volunteers have tutored in the tri-state area of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, primarily K through eighth grade. But add a few ninth through eleventh graders. What about senior year students? “It depends on the classes for senior year,” notes Wolfe, “because all of our tutors are currently in high school, and if we’re not capable of teaching a subject, we wouldn’t want to push ourselves to do that so they can get the best experience possible.”
And those subjects tutored? Math, reading, science, Spanish and French. And add possibly music. Wolfe plays the tuba and Milititsky, the alto saxophone!
“All of our tutors have already been through the Greenwich Public School system,” says Milititsky, “and the way we’re set it up, the kids bring us work. So, for high school, that means we can have someone that teaches geometry, algebra 2, pre-calculus, all the calculus’s. We can pretty much offer tutoring for any course that’s offered in the Greenwich Public School system.”
So, what’s the typical duration of their tutoring? “They would just send us a picture, or they would tell us what subject it is they’re learning,” tells Milititsky, “and then the tutor would help them with homework and provide additional questions for further enrichment. The class would max out at an hour, but it could be anywhere between 10 minutes and an hour.”
“It really does depend on the case,” adds Wolfe. “Over the summer, we had students needing tutoring for their summer school classes, in order to go on to the next math or science level. But also, it could be throughout the year if you have one subject that you’re particularly struggling with, like math or algebra. It could be on a yearlong basis where they would meet consistently once a week so they could figure out things that they’ve done in class in that week prior.”
So, just what other tutoring is available in the Greenwich School system? “There’s a program at Greenwich High School, the National Honors Society that offers tutoring to only freshmen in certain classes,” says Wolfe. “And we wanted to extend into not just the freshman year of high school, but throughout high school, and as well in the middle schools and elementary schools.”
Greenwich Academics has now earned the support of the Greenwich School system says Wolfe. “The Greenwich High School superintendent has given us permission to hang up signs and introduce our services to the middle schoolers at all three Greenwich Public School middle schools, which is very helpful.” And the services of Greenwich Academics was also recommended during the summer school held at Eastern Middle School this year for students from sixth to 12 grades, to “anyone who was falling behind.”
And now Greenwich Academics has gone international having initiated a summer school program of tutoring in Nigeria! The idea came from a student reaching out this summer for tutorial help with a student connection in Nigeria. Might the founders “work alongside him and provide tutors?” Thus, was born the Academic Enrichment Program with the Jextoban Secondary School chosen in Nigeria. “It’s one of the few places in the world that’s an English-speaking Third World country that could really use our teachings,” says Wolfe.
The ages of those Secondary School students? “They were high schoolers, the same ages as ours, 15 to 18. We had 11 of us tutoring about 50 students… We’re opening doors to a brighter future for them.”
Greenwich Academics (GA) is indeed “a testament to the global impact that young minds can achieve when they come together for a common purpose,” as the founders have shared. And what will happen when the founders graduate? “We plan on passing down the organization to one of our many active younger members,” tells Wolfe. “We want them to continue working with all children in the local community as well as continuing the Nigerian Summer Project.”

Tutors and Students Share Their Takes on Greenwich Academics
Tutor Brooke Wilkowski (Senior): “Being a tutor is incredibly rewarding as it gives us the opportunity to apply what we’ve learned as seniors to a variety of kids.”
Tutor Bella Crasto (Senior): “This tutoring experience has exposed me to a variety of families and positive connections throughout Greenwich. I have been able to not only help students academically, but I have been able to develop meaningful relationships and connect on a deeper level that previously I could not have achieved. It is truly a rewarding feeling to see these young students academically advance and to witness our impact. I look forward to meeting and collaborating with new curious and youthful minds in the future.”
Tutor Avery Hirsh (Senior & Director of GA Advertisement): “As part of the Nigerian summer project, I was able to connect with students from another country entirely. As an English teacher, there were many assignments requiring personal writing and narratives. I felt as though I was really learning about these students’ cultures and lifestyles through the project.”
Student Thaddeus Whittle (Grade 8): “My tutor’s tutoring changed my view on effective studying and learning for the better.”
Student Benson Jiang (Grade 6): “I like that tutoring was able to help me not only with my reading skills but also occasionally if I have other subject homework I need help with. My tutor has helped me with my math skills as well as giving new strategies to solve problems.”