After 17 years of working with students, Crafting Scholars founder Kris Harris has seen education change considerably. Classrooms have become increasingly digital, AI has entered the picture, writing expectations are evolving, and students have access to resources that would have been difficult to imagine when he first started tutoring.
One thing has remained remarkably consistent: Students learn differently.
That idea has shaped the Crafting Scholars approach from the beginning. Harris believes effective academic support starts with understanding the individual student, including how they think, where they are struggling, what motivates them, and what may be standing between them and greater confidence.
We recently sat down with Harris to talk about how Crafting Scholars began, what nearly two decades of tutoring have taught him, the changing academic environment, and why helping students understand themselves as learners remains at the heart of his work.
What originally led you to start Crafting Scholars?
It actually goes all the way back to college. I originally thought I wanted to practice medicine, but after volunteering at UNC Hospitals, I realized it was not the right fit for me.
I was also the student who would go to the library on Saturday mornings. A couple of my suitemates used to give me a hard time about it, and then one Saturday they asked if they could come along. We sat down, and they basically said, “We don’t know how to study. Can you teach us?”
So I did. That was probably one of the first times I became fascinated by the fact that people think and learn differently. We can all be preparing for the same test, but the way we process information and get ourselves ready for it can be completely different.
I eventually became a teacher, left education for a sales position, and quickly realized how much I missed teaching. My mom actually suggested tutoring. I initially thought, “Who needs a tutor? Go to your teacher.” Then I started working with one seventh-grade student who was struggling with organization, academics, and confidence.
He began making progress, his parents started telling other families, and suddenly I was going house to house tutoring students. Eventually, I had enough clients to take the leap and make it my career.
After 17 years, what still motivates you?
The light bulb moments.
When a student has that breakthrough or that “aha” moment, I make a big deal about it. I literally call it a light bulb moment. Seeing a student succeed in an area where they previously felt like there was no hope is still incredibly rewarding.
There is also a family component to it. Parents want the best for their children, but they can feel vulnerable and helpless when they do not know how to help. Sometimes our work with a student changes that whole family dynamic. Mom or Dad does not have to helicopter anymore because the student is beginning to take ownership. At the end of the day, we are genuinely helping people.
What have you learned about how students learn?
I call it their “academic fingerprint.” People process information and think in very different ways, and a big part of our job is finding that connection with the individual student.
Sometimes students do not even know what is not working. They may have received negative feedback or developed this idea that they simply cannot do something. You have to get beyond those defenses and understand what is really causing the problem, how you can address it, and what will motivate that particular student.
That is also why I have always believed so strongly in personalization. If students can understand where they are academically, how they think, and where they are capable of going, that can completely change their perception of themselves.
Do parents always know what is causing their child’s academic struggles?
A majority of the time, what we uncover is more complicated than the original problem.
A student may come in saying, “I’m terrible at chemistry. I just need someone to explain chemistry to me.” Then we discover there are issues with study habits, organization, how they are approaching the teacher, or how they are engaging with the material outside the classroom.
Study skills are a big one. Students often have never actually been taught how to study. They may read something over repeatedly and think they are studying, but they have not practiced recalling that information without having it directly in front of them.
What changes when a student starts gaining confidence?
I start seeing action.
A frustrated student is often stuck. Once confidence begins to grow, students start bringing questions to sessions. They seek out their teachers. They show me their notes or their study schedule. They can say, “This specific part is where I’m having trouble.”
That self-awareness is huge. The defenses begin to drop, and the student can focus more on the actual work instead of being stuck in their own head.
How have technology and AI changed what you are seeing from students?
The entire academic environment has become much more digital. Students may not have notebooks filled with paper anymore because assignments, notes, and resources live in Google Classroom or other digital platforms. That means students need digital organization skills just as much as previous generations needed to keep a physical binder organized.
AI adds another layer. The concern for me is when students use it to bypass the thinking that is supposed to happen during an assignment. I recently had a student who was supposed to write about a fundamental belief they personally held. I looked over, and they were asking ChatGPT for ideas. I thought, “You’re asking AI to tell you what you believe?”
Idea generation, research, analysis, and critical thinking require practice. When technology does all of that work for a student, they are missing opportunities to develop those skills themselves.
Is that part of why you decided to revamp the Crafting Scholars Writing Program?
Absolutely. We are hearing more from students in upper-level English classes who are being asked to complete essays during class instead of taking them home.
When students have an hour to write an essay, they need to be able to generate ideas independently. They need a writing process they know how to use. I compare it to lifting weights. You cannot avoid the weight room and then walk in one day expecting to max out on the bench press. You have to work those muscles and become familiar and comfortable with the process.
What should happen before a student writes the first sentence of an essay?
There has to be a pre-writing phase.
If a student has an hour to write an essay, spending 10 minutes formulating the thesis and creating a brief outline of the topic sentences and where the argument is going can make the rest of the writing much more efficient.
I am seeing students write an entire essay and then go back and formulate the thesis. The thesis is the heart of the essay. It is the driver. That is something you need to iron out first.
What does being a good writer mean to you?
A good writer has command of grammar and can construct sentences that are clear in their intent. Those sentences should also build naturally, allowing an argument or idea to develop without becoming repetitive.
Good writing does not require overly complex sentences designed to sound intelligent. Sometimes students change the way they communicate when they write because they are trying so hard to sound smart that their actual point gets lost. Writing is fundamentally about the ability to communicate.
What is the difference between helping a student improve an essay and helping them become a better writer?
Improving one essay can become a Band-Aid. The focus stays on the immediate grade: “I need help with this paper because I want an A.”
Maybe that essay improves. What happens with the next one?
Our goal is for students to develop skills they can carry into future assignments. There is also an important boundary for tutors. If you provide so much assistance that the finished work no longer reflects what the student can independently produce, you are ultimately doing that student a disservice.
Why does the Writing Program begin with an assessment?
Every student is at a different point in their writing journey, and the writing process itself is personal. You can give students the same advice, but it has to connect with how they think and what they already understand about writing before it becomes useful.
You could pull 10 students from the same class and discover that they are all in different places as writers. If we want meaningful growth, we first have to understand the individual student.
What do you ultimately want students to gain from the Writing Program?
Confidence in their own writing process and an understanding of who they are as writers.
Writing gives us an opportunity to explore complex ideas. I want students to have the skills and confidence to take on subjects they might otherwise avoid because they are worried about getting something wrong or protecting a grade.
You see that even with grammar. A student may avoid using a semicolon because they are afraid they will use it incorrectly. I want students to develop the confidence to use the tools available to them, explore ideas, and grow in how they express themselves.
After 17 years, what are you most proud of?
Helping my community.
I’ve watched students grow up, succeed in their careers, and overcome things they once thought were impossible. Some former students have even come back to work as tutors at Crafting Scholars.
Those are the moments that stay with you.
Finally, if you could give every parent one piece of advice about helping their child succeed academically, what would it be?
“When you’re out of patience, find more. And your child does not learn as you did.”
Help Your Student Become a More Confident Writer
The philosophy Kris describes has shaped the Crafting Scholars approach for 17 years, and it is also at the heart of the revamped Writing Program.
Students begin with an assessment that helps identify where they are in their individual writing journey. From there, Crafting Scholars develops personalized instruction designed to strengthen the skills that student needs, including pre-writing, thesis development, organization, cohesion and flow, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and independent idea development.
The objective is bigger than improving the next essay. It is helping students understand their own writing process and develop the skills and confidence to communicate their ideas independently.
To learn more about the Crafting Scholars Writing Program or discuss whether it may be a good fit for your student, contact Crafting Scholars today.