Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of Cooper City
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
EP #276: Avi Spiller with ScoreMax Tutoring
Discover the secrets to academic success with Avi Spiller from ScoreMax Tutoring! Have you ever wondered how some students manage to conquer the SAT and ACT with ease? Avi Spiller, a former college professor and high school teacher, shares his transformative approach to standardized test preparation. His innovative curriculum not only demystifies these daunting exams but also turns them into a strategic learning experience. This episode is packed with insights into the importance of personalized tutoring and how Avi's dedication helps students from elementary through college unlock their full potential.
Misconceptions about tutoring can often lead to missed opportunities for meaningful academic improvement. Avi helps us understand the difference between simple homework help and fostering true independent learning. By breaking down mathematical fears and addressing anxieties, Avi reveals how to make students confident and self-sufficient. Listen to Avi's personal anecdotes about overcoming life's challenges and how these experiences have shaped his teaching philosophy. This conversation is a must-listen for parents, students, and educators who want to learn about the transformative power of effective tutoring and resilience in both academics and life.
Call: (954) 224-1511
Visit: https://www.scoremaxtutoring.com/
Follow: https://www.instagram.com/scoremaxtutoring/
Like: https://www.facebook.com/ScoremaxTutoring/
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. I am your host, jeremy Wolf, and today I am joined by Avi Spiller, and Avi is from ScoreMax Tutoring. We actually met several times at the Davie Cooper City Chamber of Commerce various events, so it's so nice to have you on the show, and anytime I can have a guest that is doing something to promote the futures of our youth, I'm excited to have them on to talk about what they do. So, avi, thanks for joining us, brother.
Speaker 3:Jeremy, thank you for having me on the program Appreciate it.
Speaker 2:It's our pleasure and thanks as always to our listeners for tuning in to learn more about our great community and the businesses that serve us. So, avi, tell everybody a little bit about ScoreMax. Let's start there.
Speaker 3:ScoreMax Tutoring is a full-service tutoring company. We help students all the way from elementary school all the way through college, whether it's reading, math, science, sats, acts, gmats, gres, ap exams, all the way. So if students are having trouble in school, we're here to help and we love doing it.
Speaker 2:So when you say full-service, unpack that a little bit. What exactly? What types of things are you doing? You mentioned ACT, sct, help, tutoring. It's like A to Z soup to nuts everything. Walk me through what somebody is to expect. I have a child, let's say I have a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old. They're not doing very well in school. I need to get some help. I need to get some help.
Speaker 3:I need some tutoring services. I pick up the phone, I find out about ScoreMax. I call you guys up, like what am I to expect? Walk me through that process, perfect. So what we would do is we would first meet with the family and we meet them very similar like this one-on-one online and we talk with the families and with the either son or daughter, and we get very specifics about what their challenges are, and we really want to make sure we're able to help the students in every aspect of what they're having trouble with and what their challenges are, and every student is different. So that interview is extremely important One second here, sorry about that so understanding the student and what the challenges are. And then, once we understand exactly what the challenges are, we match them with a tutor that is experienced in exactly what they need and exactly what their challenges are.
Speaker 2:So how did you get into this business? Let's go back. I know you mentioned you've been doing this for quite some time. How did you start doing tutoring?
Speaker 3:What's the genesis of this Well, I actually have. I was a college professor and high school teacher. How did you start doing tutoring?
Speaker 2:What's the genesis of this? Well, I actually have. I was a college professor and high school teacher. I taught Hold on a second, you don't look old enough to have been a college professor and high school teacher.
Speaker 3:And then, come on, man, I appreciate that this is actually my 26th year as an educator and I appreciate that. So, yeah, no, I taught all levels of math. I have degrees in mathematics, statistics, I'm ESC certified degree in education and even being a math professor and a high school teacher as department head, I was a curriculum writer and I did some tutoring on the side because, know, I didn't think I was helping students enough and so I said you know, on top of that, I'd like to help students with the sat, the act, the standardized tests. And, to be honest, when I was in school, I did well in the math because I, but I didn't do perfect. And on the verbal I really didn't do very well, and I because I didn't really understand the test.
Speaker 3:So I studied the test from the perspective of someone who creates curriculum and writes tests and I saw exactly what they're doing and how they write the exams. I saw that they're actually playing psychological games in the way they write the questions, where they literally point students to pick wrong answers. They're literally telling students in a very subtle way to pick the wrong answers and then they do and then they get it wrong and don't know why and get very frustrated and even like to this day if I ask somebody so what did you get on your SATs? And it's uncomfortable. Even as adults, we feel uncomfortable even talking about it, and it's because of the way the test is designed. So once I realized that, I built a curriculum around it and said's because of the way the test is designed.
Speaker 3:So once I realized once I realized that I built a curriculum around it and said, okay, let me make sure this works. I took some tests myself and I got perfect score after perfect score, whether it was an sat or act, because they all asked the same questions. I was like, okay, I've got something I can teach. This is exciting, by the way, I wish somebody had told me that when I was in school, because that would have helped a lot. But no, by the way, the way we teach this actually is very unique. There aren't any programs in the country that teach this, and I think it's because maybe they just don't understand the nature of the test. They just don't know. It's because maybe they just don't understand the nature of the test, they just don't know.
Speaker 3:But because we started this, I started helping with one student and two students and then I've helped thousands of students and I didn't even know what I was building. Apparently, I was building a company. I didn't even know it. So I ended up hiring one person, two people, three people, training and I ended up building a company and it just started off as a passion project and ended up becoming a company, and we just added more and more services as we could have expert tutors help with more and more services, because we'd have family members that say, oh, you helped my son. I have a nephew that needs help and so I needed to find an expert in, say, an elementary ed, find someone who's ESC certified like myself, who can work with someone with special, let's say, with learning disabilities, and it just built from there. So we just we help kids and we love doing it.
Speaker 2:So you essentially, if I understand this correctly, you basically went back and kind of reverse engineered the process of how they formulate these questions.
Speaker 2:That is correct kind of reverse engineered the process of how they formulate these questions and kind of hacked the system, if you will, and created a methodology or a for lack of a better word like a cheat code for students for studying for these standardized tests.
Speaker 2:This actually reminds me a little bit just a little bit like shades, of when I was in college at UF for the econ statistics, all the business major business classes.
Speaker 2:They had some former students that were still involved with the university. They were still on campus or they were grad students. I can't remember the background of the actual the teachers that were doing this, but they created basically sessions for the students to cram for tests and they would go back and what they would do is kind of cycle through the last five or 10 years of test questions for each professor. They would do is kind of cycle through the last five or 10 years of test questions for each professor and there was again, like you said, there was a methodology behind the way they ask questions and the same questions seem to pop up in different repurposed language and they you would just go through and really you wouldn't have to go to class or study. You just go to this thing and you cram for a few hours, and then you know if you put in a little bit of work you get an A on the test, no problem.
Speaker 3:Um, and it's true, yes, absolutely, uh, but it actually goes a little deeper than that.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, that's why I said it's a little shades of that, but I know it's not you're actually learning the stuff. It's more.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you're not only learning, but also you know yes, we get into the curriculum of the math as well, but but it started with um, honestly, because I didn't understand the test when I was younger. So it started with how can I understand what they're doing? And then, once I realized that it's actually the way they write the questions and answers that are pointing students in the wrong direction. That's the key with this test is understanding that. So the students are empowered when they actually realize, wow, I can actually beat this test. And parents and working with these wonderful families are like. And if you see some of the testimonials online, by the way, I ask every single one of my clients to leave a testimonial on Google. Please do it. Tell what we do. Most don't remember, but the ones that do tell great stories about what we do.
Speaker 2:Very, very interesting. I was going to ask something else, but I lost my train of thought. I'm sure I'll come back to it. So when did so? It sounds to me like the seeds were being planted for ScoreMax, many, many, many years leading up to starting, but when did you actually formally launch the business? Is this?
Speaker 3:recent or how long? Yeah, the business was formally launched. I believe it was. Was it two or three years ago? The business was formally launched, yes, but yes, it was a work in progress for quite some time. But yes, we officially incorporated a few years ago. Yes, Now.
Speaker 2:Do you work with students primarily virtually or in person, a combination of both. Do you service anywhere?
Speaker 3:in the country. We've partnered with some communities which has been a wonderful partnership and taught live classes. Primarily, we do one-on-one virtual so we can help students throughout the country and we have helped students throughout the country and we actually have a couple of amazing tutors who actually live out of state who are able to help students throughout the country, and we actually have a couple of amazing tutors who actually live out of state who are able to help students, you know, everywhere around the country. So we have amazing educators and students around the country. So, you know, the COVID definitely was able gave us this platform to allow us to spread what we do to a larger audience, which has been really actually been very wonderfully beneficial.
Speaker 2:Interested to know. Do you find that, I would imagine, especially for the younger children, it's more effective to be face-to-face rather than virtually? Or do you see post-COVID, do you see that gap bridging more and more as time progresses? Do you see that?
Speaker 3:gap bridging more and more as time progresses.
Speaker 3:You know we learned from COVID that large classes online for young students is ineffective, and we learned that.
Speaker 3:And we actually see now a lot of gaps in knowledge from students, especially in math, who in 2000, maybe, were taking a pre-algebra or an algebra course.
Speaker 3:And then they come to us now and we see that gap in knowledge there. But when it comes to one-on-one, students are so used to communicating this way virtually that it might as well be sitting across the desk from each other. So it really actually, and on top of that, being able to share information instantly, being able to share notes and being able to share practice materials, and being able to share curriculum instantly to the students, being able to share the information to the parents, students being able to share the information to the parents, it's actually been even more beneficial. And then students and parents don't have to drive anywhere, they can stay in their own home. So it's been convenient for the students and the parents being able to do it this way and it's actually been able to even more beneficial learning wise for the students because honestly, they like it like this and they might as well be sitting across the desk from each other.
Speaker 2:What are some of the most common misunderstandings that you hear from? I guess the parents like students and parents of students alike around what you do, around tutoring in general general.
Speaker 3:It usually comes from a lot of bad experiences where a lot of families will have hired a tutor and then they've hired another tutor and it just seems to be the same thing where they assign. You know, a tutor will go over the homework with a student and just show them the steps to do it, or they'll give them a practice test and will say, okay, I'll show you what you did wrong, where it's just kind of like educational support of okay, let me just show you the steps you're doing wrong. I have a completely different educational philosophy where I want students to be independent learners. I want students to truly understand what's happening, whether it's the standardized tests, which is the reason why our program is very short. It's very quick, it's short. We're students. I understand the nature of standardized testing and can actually fix their own mistakes. We teach them how to do that so they don't need us anymore when it comes to learning math or learning science, especially mathematics. We teach students not only the steps of how to solve the problem, but we go back and say, okay, this is a really common mistake and I see all students make this, but here's why you're making it. So let's go back and talk about why you're allowed to do something and understand it truly. So then when students get a deep understanding of whatever it is that we're teaching them, then they don't need us anymore, which is the goal.
Speaker 3:And so another common misconception is tutors just want hours after hours, after hours, after hours, after hours, just keep hiring and just keep booking you over and over again. Well, that actually is isn't a misconception, that's true, but it is a misconception when they come to us because they think the same thing about us. Now we want students to be independent of us. That is the goal. We want students to be confident. We want students to feel good about learning, and the reason why we've been so successful is because then they tell all of their friends and all of their family members about us, and the reason why we've been so successful is because then they tell all of their friends and all their family members about us and saying my son or my daughter was so successful and is so successful because of ScoreMax and what they do. So it's really I pride myself on truly actually helping students feel good about learning.
Speaker 2:Good stuff. So on that topic, I mean, obviously you have a lot of students as a kind of like faux children, if you will. Do you have any children of your own? I?
Speaker 3:do? I have three. I have two teenagers a 17-year-old, a 15-year-old and a 10-year-old daughter. Two older boys and a younger daughter. I just they're amazing, amazing kids, daughter. I just they're amazing, amazing kids. We traveled together, we spent a lot of time together, which is wonderful, but it's funny how teenagers are. My middle one, when he was younger, had trouble in math. I said, okay, let me help you with that. He goes. You know how to do this. You know, when it comes to kids and their parents know it's kind of funny, but it's yeah, but no, they're my pride and joy and sometimes even my strength, when you know to be able to, uh, you know when to be able to, um, when things get tough and things get challenging, you know seeing my kids like, okay, I know what I'm doing this for. Uh, you know, just in life in general, you know good stuff, man.
Speaker 2:My daughter is 12. She's not not yet an actual teenager, but she thinks she's 16. Of course I will say about her, though she's gotten to a point in school I can't believe it 12 years old, where, like she doesn't come to me for anything anymore, she just she does. I think she, she's smarter than me already. She just knows what she's doing. She's yet to eat out, but I told her. I said when you get into like calculus, come see me, Cause I actually enjoyed that when I was in school and you said.
Speaker 2:You said you had a background in mathematics. You taught mathematics, right.
Speaker 3:You're a mathematics professor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I always had a. I always had a thing for math.
Speaker 3:It was always my go-to you know it's funny because a lot of people either enjoy math or hate it and have a fear of it, and I love working with students on both ends and people think I'm crazy there. But for the students who actually have the fear, I love teaching those students. Let's go back to the beginning and where the fear started. Where, where, where did you where math got abstract when you were young and actually weren't ready for it? Because some students just aren't ready for that abstractness of algebra and they're taught it too early. So I said let's go back and let me show you how you can actually truly understand this and those students when they realize they can absolutely do math. It's so rewarding to help students overcome that fear very interesting.
Speaker 2:I love the. I love what you just said there. You said let's go back and identify where that fear actually comes from. That's powerful. That's really unpacking the root cause of the issue, because math is not good or bad or indifferent, it's just whatever you perceive it to be. So, like you said, most people have had an experience when they're younger, or many experiences that just led them to not like it. So true, so true. Yes.
Speaker 2:Maybe you could help me out while we're on this call. I've always liked the mathematics, but specifically like calculus, algebra, trinometry, like the, the, I guess you could say um, not theoretical, what's the word? I'm looking for the, uh, abstract type math, I guess you could say, but when it comes to accounting and things like that.
Speaker 2:I have that, that horrible fear. For whatever reason, my brain doesn't seem to process debits and credits and balancing and things like that, and to this day I get triggered when I have to do something related to accounting. I almost freeze up and I don't know where to go from there and it turns me so like where does that come from? What do I do? Let's, let's.
Speaker 3:Well, that would probably come from. Obviously, maybe some challenges you had at some point when it came came to that. Maybe you at some point thought you had money but then all of a sudden you didn't and you're like, wait a minute, how did that happen? So then, facing that, you're like, oh, I don't even want to look at it. You know, I don't know, I'm just guessing, honestly, but I probably pushed a button that I probably hit pretty good, and in it's just going back and just looking, going with the basics, saying okay, here's what was input, here's what's output, and let's just go one little thing at a time and just going back to the basics of, okay, it's actually not such a big deal, it's okay.
Speaker 3:And then all of a sudden, doing it on a larger scale will make a lot of sense and it'll be more comfortable with it. But that's also when you're teaching anything start with the small scale, start with the easy, start with the basic concept of something and then just build it up to the more abstract concept, and then students will realize the big picture. The big abstract is actually that simple basic problem just on a larger scale. And once you realize that, then all of a sudden it's not so scary anymore.
Speaker 2:All right, wise words. I'll take that into consideration. The next accounting project I have.
Speaker 2:Break it down into smaller pieces, keep it simple, build from there. So, looking back through your journey, oftentimes we are defined by our most challenging and trying moments and sometimes experiences that in the moment where we're actually going through them, it can feel like the end of the world crisis. You're never going to recover from it. But then again, with hindsight, looking back, you could say that you're better off for having gone through some of these experiences. Oftentimes those experiences help shape us and define us better than some of the best experiences we have in life. What are some? What's one thing that comes to mind looking back through your journey?
Speaker 3:a life hardship, a challenge, something that you struggled with at the time tremendously, but you could, sitting here today, you could say that you're better off for having gone through that, um, in a very short period of time, um, I had lost my mother, I was going through a divorce, I was diagnosed with cancer and it happened within a couple months of each other and all three things were very just life devastating events that happened all at once and honestly, it was. My kids actually gave me a lot of strength because I knew I had to be strong for them. But then, going through it like I ended up after a few surgeries they were able to get the cancer out of my arm and it was OK. I've ended up forming a wonderful relationship with my current fiance, so everything ends up being OK.
Speaker 3:And with the loss of my mom, I've gone through know, sadness, and through that and and also, but also, been more appreciative of life, uh, because of it, because it's so short, and going through all of that I appreciate. I think I would say I appreciate everything I have even more and um strives me to uh, even work harder and be more positive in everything that I do, because I know that, you know there are the things can be really tough, but even when they are, things can be really good. So in going through all that, I think I probably appreciate everything that I have and everything I'm doing, even more so than I did prior.
Speaker 2:Thanks for sharing all that. Yeah, that's one of the things I've not. Fortunately, I've not really lost anyone tremendously close to me. I mean, I've had some grandparents pass, obviously, but nobody within my immediate circle. But the commonality, the thing I get from folks that have lost people close to them, is that the one takeaway from that is just what you said is having a deeper appreciation for the time that we have here, because it is so fleeting, and then, obviously, with our children, watching them grow up, I mean it seems like a blur In any given moment. It can seem like it's taking forever, but then, looking back at everything, it really is just a flash and we only have the time that we have.
Speaker 3:It's so true. Yes, I remember my first son when he was born, and it seems like it was just yesterday. That's so true. Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So, before we wrap up here, what would be the one thing that you'd like to let our audience know about your business? Just one thing you'd like to leave us with let our audience know about your business.
Speaker 3:Just one thing you'd like to leave us with.
Speaker 3:We're here to help and we love doing it. We have educators with over a hundred years of experience of tutoring and teaching, and every single one of them. What's interesting is when I interview my educators whether I'm going to bring them on and train them or not. One of the questions I ask them is when it comes to working with students, what's the most important thing? And the answer that I'm looking for is being able for students to enjoy the learning process, to actually make the connections with students so they want to learn, are happy to learn and enjoy the process, and so that for educators who just love working with students and want students to love to learn. That's who my educators are and my staff, that's who I am as an educator, because I'm an educator first and that's the nature of this entire business and what I do and what we bring to all the wonderful families that we've worked with. So you know we love working with kids and helping them be independent and successful, and that's what we love to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the results will come naturally if the students learn to love enjoying the process of getting there.
Speaker 3:Correct and our results have been just phenomenal. I take pride in it.
Speaker 3:Our students on average let's say on SATs gain a 26% increase in their scores, which for everybody just to put a number on that as soon as you start off at a thousand, end up at a 1260 through our program, which is the student barely being able to go to college, to all of a sudden they've got, you know, 25, $30,000 worth of bright future scholarship waiting for them. So it's, I love what we do and and that's something and if you want to, I know it's all about sometimes it can be about dollars and cents and that can help. That helps families so much who were wondering, OK, how am I going to pay for college, how are we going to do this? And all of a sudden like, oh, wait a minute, Wow, Look at this, we can pay for college just because you know we were able to help the students be able to beat the SATs. Yeah, it's, I love it.
Speaker 2:I really do Good for you, man. You can see, you can feel, you can see the passion coming through and what you do. Clearly you love what you do and that's fantastic. How can we reach you? What's the best way to get ahold of you? Anybody out there that's listening that does need help. Their kids are getting ready for testing. They're having some issues.
Speaker 3:What's the best way to reach out and contact ScoreMax? All right, scoremaxtutoringcom, right there on the website. All of our phone numbers are there. Please follow us on Instagram at ScoreMaxTutoring. Contact information is there as well. So yeah, scoremaxtutoringcom, and it shows everything that we do and all of our contact information is right there.
Speaker 2:Perfect. We will, of course, drop a link in the description below to all of your contact information. Avi. Thanks for coming on the show, brother. I really appreciate what you're doing for our youth. Really happy for you, man.
Speaker 3:Jeremy, I appreciate you having me on. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed this. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:It's our pleasure and thanks as always to our listeners for tuning in. And it's our pleasure and thanks as always to our listeners for tuning in, and we will catch everyone next time on the next episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. Everyone, take care.
Speaker 1:Have a wonderful day. Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Cooper City. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to GNPCooperCitycom. That's GNPCooperCitycom, that's GNPCooperCitycom, or call 954-231-3170.