Meet Aurelio, Inkululeko’s US Coordinator of Remote Learning!

By: Varsha Srinivasan

Meet Aurelio Soto, Inkululeko’s US Coordinator of Remote Learning! This program has provided students in Makhanda with asynchronous and synchronous tutoring opportunities with Inkululeko interns in the US. Aurelio began at Inkululeko as a history tutor in Summer 2021. In this role, he typically had a week to prepare for lessons and met with learners via Google Meets. Given how common power outages are in South Africa, Aurelio helped initiate a collaborative Google Drive and transition to pre-made lessons to keep tutoring accessible for learners. As a Teaching Lead, Aurelio was able to support the former Lead in dividing the workload, which impressed upon him the value of effective communication amongst tutors to promote a positive environment for learners. Coming from a Media and Studio Animation background, Aurelio has been able to grow at Inkululeko by taking ownership of innovative new ideas. He created media materials for the organization’s 10 year anniversary in addition to his work managing Inkululeko’s Instagram account and using creative techniques, such as comic strips, to challenge himself with finding solutions to student learning gaps. The Tutoring Program has allowed him to feel motivated and committed to his work by establishing a self-starter attitude for himself. Future projects Aurelio will be working on include an onboarding video for incoming tutors to make them feel more comfortable in their teaching and help them feel as dedicated as he has in this program. Most of all, Aurelio is looking forward to further developing ideas that will be beneficial to the growth of both Inkululeko and remote learning environments overall.