Mukilteo couple open tutoring business at home
Published 9:02 pm Sunday, April 4, 2010
Of course, Ellen Forster said, she owns a crock pot.
Many families with busy kids stuff slow cookers some mornings with whatever is handy and has an unexpired pull date. The mix simmers all day, as folks scurry to soccer, Scouts, music lessons and karate before dipping in for a bite to eat between buckling seat belts.
The Forster family knows how to maximize time.
In the summer of 2009, during this ugly economy, Ellen and Brian Forster started a new business.
They chose to control their own destiny, the couple said.
Pi Plus is their tutoring agency run from the Mukilteo home they share with their three children.
Brian Forster lost his high-tech job a year ago. Ellen Forster, an Everett High School grad, has a degree in psychology from Santa Clara University in California where the couple met. She works in her children’s schools, and received a Washington State PTA Golden Acorn Award in 2006 and an Outstanding Advocate Award in 2009 from the Columbia Elementary School PTA.
With her school connections, Ellen Forster was able to recruit teachers and those with advanced degrees who wanted to tutor. Her husband has 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and management. He is the product of the private school system and said small group settings and individualized attention was critical to his academic success.
They combined talents, and were up and running in September.
Tutoring is done in the child’s home. That way the educator can counsel the family about good study skills and surroundings. It costs between $40 and $60 per hour. It could be once or a few times each week, for a month or longer, whatever the child or teen needs. For more information, go to piplustutors.com.
Besides helping second-grade boys learn to read, their workers also tutor older students with excellent grades but who feel they can’t afford to get less than an “A.”
Most of their high school clients ask for help with math.
Alison Corrigan, 15, who lives in Mill Creek, got a bit lost in geometry.
Who didn’t?
An Archbishop Murphy High School counselor recommended a few tutoring ideas to her mother, Kathleen Corrigan, and they clicked with a tutor from Pi Plus.
A tutor came to the Corrigan home as often as Alison felt she needed help, her mother said. They studied in an open area of the home, never alone. Kathleen Corrigan said that worked out well as she could stay busy at other tasks.
“Alison said she really helped,” Corrigan said.
Pi Plus also partners with Academic Link Outreach, at several Snohomish County schools, to provide free tutoring.
In addition to Ellen and Brian Forster, the family includes Gavin, 14, Simon, 12 and Grace, 9. Weekdays at their house start at 6 a.m., and the last child gets on the school bus at 8:30 a.m.
Ellen Forster is secretary of the Mukilteo Lacrosse Club and teaches a fitness class. Gavin wrestles. Grace goes to volleyball practice after dinner. The couple likes to work out every day. The family loves to snow ski.
The Forsters put in up to 60 hours a week running their new home business.
“We’re getting in sync,” Ellen Forster said. “We’ve had our moments.”
Their home includes a dedicated office and they rent space in Seattle and Bellevue, where they also offer tutoring.
As with most small enterprises, the couple said they found marketing and advertising is expensive. Together, they are working out kinks.
“There are days that are cloudier,” Brian Forster said. “It’s hard to see in the tunnel, if light is a train coming or the way out.”
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.
