Live via computer -- a tutor

LAWRENCE -- History is the subject for Christian Nunez. The 16-year-old freshman at Lawrence High School loves reading about how various people came to the United States and how they settled different parts of the country.

But when it come to math, especially Algebra I, it's another story. Here, Nunez struggles to grasp the complicated formulas. He's thrown off by variables and numeric terms. Sometimes, it seems as if he can't come up with the answer because he can barely understand the problem.

''The letters and the exponents and the brackets mess me up," Nunez said.

Algebra also does a number on Reinaldo Troya. He, too, gets confused by all the numbers and symbols. The 17-year-old sophomore said that among all his classes, math is his worst subject.

One recent afternoon, the students' math struggles were brought straight to the Lawrence Public Library following school. But instead of opening math textbooks and cramming until they understood, the students each sat down in front of a computer to speak with a live tutor. While other teenagers browsed through profiles on migente.com or myspace.com, Nunez and Troya sat quietly at their monitors as tutors -- via instant messages -- showed them how to solve problems. Working from all over the country, the tutors drew out problems online, explained the concepts, then asked the students to work them out without giving the answer. After 30 minutes, Nunez and Troya said they understood.

''It really helped me," Nunez said.

Last month, the Lawrence Public Library launched its online tutoring program aimed at aiding the city's students from fourth grade through high school. With a Lawrence library card, students can log on at computers at the library or at home, said Maureen Nimmo, the library's director.

''The ability to have students to have one-on-one tutoring . . . it's really fantastic," Nimmo said. ''These are trained educators."

Nimmo said the program is free to anyone with a library card, although tutor.com charges a $10,000 annual fee to the library. Nimmo said the library and the school district split the cost.

Lawrence joins more than 1,000 libraries across the country that offer similar tutoring for local students, according to tutor.com.

For the city of Lawrence, the tutoring program couldn't come at a better time. Only about 26 percent of Lawrence students scored proficient in reading on state standardized tests last year, according to schoolmatters.com, a Standard and Poor's education website. About 14 percent of the city's students scored proficient in math, the website said.

That's below the statewide averages of 61 percent in reading and 47 percent in math.

More than 85 percent of the 12,000 students in Lawrence public schools are Latino, and nearly three-quarters of the student body is classified as ''economically disadvantaged."

Nimmo said those statistics show that the online tutoring program could be ''gigantic" for the city. ''We have a huge population of school-age kids," Nimmo said. ''There's a lot of circumstances in their lives."

Lawrence also is in dire need of more local tutors for students, Nimmo said. For some subjects, like math, finding qualified people can be a challenge.

But through the online tutoring, students are immediately placed with a tutor who is a professor, graduate student, or professional, said Nimmo.

Tutoring is available daily from 3 to 10 p.m. In addition to math, students can obtain tutoring in reading, science, English, and social studies. In some subjects, such as math, tutoring is also available in Spanish, Nimmo said.

No personal information is shared between tutors and students during instant message chats, and sessions are recorded to monitor quality.

With a Lawrence library card, students can log onto the library's website and receive tutoring from home. But Nimmo said a large number of Lawrence students don't have access to the Internet at home.

''That's why we offer the opportunity for students to come to the library and receive tutoring with our computers," she said. ''We set aside computers just for that purpose."

None of the Lawrence Public Library branches offer wireless Internet services or audiobook downloads through the website. Nimmo said that's because many in the community don't have access to the high-tech equipment needed to receive those services. ''It's all about access," she said. ''We don't want to offer the community something if they can't use it."

For Nunez and Troya, the library is the only place they can log on for tutoring. Neither one has access to a computer at home yet.

''My mom's getting one soon for me," Nunez said.