Seventh-grader Jade Samuels sought tutoring this year hoping to raise his C's and D's to straight A's.

The student thought, "Why should all the other kids get straight A's and not me?" after receiving low marks last school year, he said.

Jade and a host of other students and invited guests, including Farrell Mayor William Morocco and Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Chief Riley Smoot, attended the kickoff of the Challenge Tutoring Program established through Minority Health/ERASE Anti-Drug Safe Haven, which was held Tuesday.

From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the Minority Health/ERASE office, 211 Federal St., Farrell, second- through eighth-graders can get tutoring in major subjects. This is the second year for the program, which runs through May.

Yolanda Cooper, coordinator of ERASE, said last year's tutoring program went well, and she expects this one should be even better.

"We thought it was a huge success last year," she said. "This year, we're expecting even more kids ... for it to be another success.

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