Our Story
Who are we?
First and foremost, River Project is a community. We are a large, diverse group of learners who all have a stake in one another’s education. Sure, there is some structure to our community: peer tutors and mentors facilitate learning, while the system is overseen by educators and maintained by a team of engineers. But ultimately, the community is driven by its students.
This is not another class or school or administration, which is looking to set standards of learning for everyone. “We” are just a collection of lifelong learners, capitalizing on one other’s strengths, motivating ourselves to improve, and forging connections that could only be possible on a global platform. Who are we? We’re everyone who is looking to take back a love of learning.
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Supported by educators
River Project’s board of directors comprises a majority of professors, ensuring our commitment to pedagogical best practices.
Driven by students
Students decide the content areas of need, and their engagement directs the focus of their tutoring groups. River Project is not for students—it is the students.
Designed by engineers
River Project’s platform is engineered for an easy, efficient experience. The interface was designed with its users in mind, and you’ll be navigating our community in no time.
How River Project came to be
Founder's story
For me, studying has always been a challenge. It’s not necessarily the content itself, but sitting down and getting started is an arduous process. Distractions, procrastination, just not feeling “in the mood” to get to work… really, I can be my own worst enemy.
But all of that difficulty vanishes in the face of group expectations. When it’s just me, trying to study alone? Forget about it. But when I’m with others, and we’ve set a time and place to study together, it’s a different story. I’m focused—even excited—to work.
Let’s set the stage: It was April of 2022 at St. Petersburg College, and the social scene was still hurting from the pandemic. With the majority of classes being offered online, it was difficult to even find study groups, let alone join them. The answer seemed to be (as was increasingly the case) to take things online. And yet, the options were slim.
I wanted an online club where students could study together and get help from qualified peer tutors. In talking with two of my favorite professors, I was given the encouragement and vision to create one myself. A Discord server seemed like the easy and obvious option, but Discord wasn’t really meant for studying, and it lacked all the features I envisioned for an educational service.
As the saying goes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. So, there it was: I decided to make a new platform, built from the ground up for group studying.
Thus, River Project was born: A peer tutoring platform that provides premium services completely for free—no strings attached. Students can direct their own learning at their own pace, but in the company of other students, peer tutors, and mentors, all keeping each other motivated and focused. And, since Discord remains a leading social media presence, our platform has full Discord integration.
I know I’m not alone in my academic challenges. Traditional classroom routines and expectations have left many students struggling to fend for themselves. So, if we’re not alone, why should we study alone? Learners shouldn’t be restricted to a single medium that stifles creativity, growth, or socialization. We want to give learners the power to control how and what they learn, and we hope that River Project is one step in the right direction.
See you soon,
—Zach
Who exactly is River Project?
Zachary Plotkin
Founder / CEO
Luis Toledo
Software Engineer