Two brothers at Hinsdale Central High School have turned an idea into an organization that helps student athletes bridge the gap between sports and academics.
P.A.S.S., or Peer Athlete Student Scholars, was started in December 2023 by Aryan and Milan Bansal, using student tutors to provide the resources needed to help ensure all student athletes succeed both in their sports and in the classroom, Aryan Bansal said.
The mission of P.A.S.S. is to promote healthy balance and positivity for student athletes and to foster a mindset that it is OK to prioritize school work and still love sports or academic teams, Bansal said.
“It is OK to put your well being and mental health above all else, to recognize that we all struggle, we all study, we all fail and we all succeed,” he said. “This message is not talked about enough in a community where everyone is amazing and doing so many things all the time. Healthy struggle is part of growing up, and it is OK to ask for help.”
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P.A.S.S. student tutors provide mentoring, encouragement, study skills and test prep, Bansal said, adding that the group works in partnership with the Academic Resource Center at Hinsdale Central.
Tutoring sessions are held at the Hinsdale Public Library, along with before- and after-school sessions in the school’s cafe and library. All services are free of charge.
“We have tutors for essentially any high school class, whether it be Algebra II or AP Physics,” Bansal said. “Once you schedule a session, we will match you with a tutor experienced in the subject field to help you with whatever you may need.”
He said P.A.S.S. tutors all are students who have completed classes with success, been vetted by teachers and departmental staff, and/or have 5s on the AP Exam for that core content.
Bansal said he and his brother, Milan, started the program when he was a sophomore and a two-sport athlete, involved in a variety of extracurricular commitments. Milan Bansal, who is two years younger, was commuting at the time for math classes at Hinsdale Central.
“I recognized that between sports practices, school homework and other volunteer commitments, the time to actually study and carve out time to see teachers for office hours was compressed,” Aryan Bansal said. “High school is busy and can be overwhelming at times.”
He said he noticed teammates were also stressed about how to get to practice and meet the demands of coaches for practice time and focus, while at the same time balance the expectations of teachers for performance in class.
“I realized that for busy athletes, office hours with teachers don’t always make sense when practice is every day, after school or before school,” Bansal said. “It can feel overwhelming and alone, and the pressure to do everything well for everyone can be very stressful.”
To that end, Bansal said he started helping teammates and friends with math homework on the bus and began studying with a group of other motivated student-athletes for chemistry.
“What I realized is that every student can use help sometimes, and there is no shame in asking for help,” he said.
The next step was born out of logic.
“Who better to understand the struggles of a busy student than another student?” Bansal said. He and his brother were the first tutors and saw a need for math support before school for a group of students in pre-calculus and trigonometry. Their first sessions, in math, took place at 7:15 a.m. in the school cafeteria.
“Word got out, and we started seeing a regular group of kids,” Bansal said. “When you work with a peer, who is familiar with the content and also the busy schedule of athletes and students, it makes sense to feel supported and encouraged. The message is that struggle is real, but we can help.”
Bansal said he and Milan realized there likely were many students and athletes across all academic and athletic teams who needed support to better bridge the divide between academics and athletics and in juggling practice schedules with homework and office hours.
Hinsdale Central student Elise Fenton said she learned about P.A.S.S. through the school’s weekly emails that offer information about resources for students and updates about the school.
“When I needed help studying for a physics test, I reached out to Ary, and he connected me with a tutor that same week,” she said.” It was nice to be tutored by a peer, who already knew how the class worked.”
Following that experience, Fenton learned about an open spot on the P.A.S.S. committee.
“I enthusiastically applied, since I thought it would be a great opportunity to help other students and become more involved in the school community,” she said. “I became a tutor shortly after joining the committee, and it’s helped me become more confident explaining difficult concepts and talking to new people.”
P.A.S.S. is not officially sponsored by the school, but the group’s work has been impressive, said Chris Cirrincione, Hinsdale Central’s assistant principal for instruction. Cirrincione said he learned about the program when Bansal came to him to talk about the program and potential connection with the school
“At first, I was apprehensive because the program sounded very ambitious,” Cirrincione said. “Ary and the P.A.S.S. team have exceeded every expectation and created a robust tutoring program to support the students at Central.”
Cirrincione said the group did not really need his help to succeed, but he has stayed on the sideline, looking to provide guidance and feedback when needed, because “if P.A.S.S. is successful, then our students succeed.”
“In addition, many families at Central obtain paid, private tutors on their own,” he said. “P.A.S.S. provides a free option for students, which is essential, especially for our students who can not afford private tutoring.”
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Along with the Bansal brothers, the group’s leadership committee includes Connor Mason, Yusuf Rafig, Hessen Alsheik, Thomas Willett, Elise Fenton and David Waterman.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.