Teen Goes Viral On TikTok For Teaching Math And Science To Peers In Quarantine

When American schools shifted to remote learning, a 16-year-old math whiz from The Bronx broke through the massive mix of social media dance challenges and viral videos to emerge as a tutoring superstar.

After friends encouraged him to post tips on algebra, geometry, chemistry and physics on TikTok, Alexis Loveraz has become a go-to source for students of all ages shut out of their schools by the coronavirus.

Loveraz, a junior with a 4.0 average at Harlem Prep High School in New York City, is now known as the "TikTok Tutor" with more than 702,000 followers and more than 6.4 million likes.

"I was, like, really shocked," he told CBS New York's Hazel Sanchez. "Things that they probably forgot like before COVID-19, this is like a refresher of what I'm, like, giving them out. It's really cool because they understand it even better the way I'm explaining it to them."

Loveraz now has his own YouTube channel and other online platforms where hundreds of teens at a time help each other. Some students say they learn more in his one-minute videos than in a 45-minute class.

"How did you explain it better than my teacher?" some followers commented. "You explain 1000x better than my math teacher!!!"

Loveraz is adding Google Classroom to enhance his TikTok tutorials. He now has new friends from all around the globe, including Canada, Australia and Singapore.

"Even though we're having some language barriers sometimes, math really connects us all," said Pierre Zurbito, 16, who follows Loveraz in the Philippines.

Loveraz's parents are blown away by the response.

"I'm excited about this," said his mother, Likmilian Hiciano. "I know he can do this and more. I'm so proud that he helped a lot of people."