MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (WDVM) — With school buildings closed and extra-curricular activities cancelled, students have a lot more free time and these Montgomery Blair High School students decided to take on the role of teachers.

“We decided that during this time, it would be a really good opportunity to explore something new or develop a new interest,” said high school sophomore and founder Michael Hu.

Hu says it sparked the idea for a new program called Kindling Curiosity. High school sophomores are schooling younger students on competition math, computer programming, English and language arts online.

“I found programming as an outlet for creativity, it’s a really fun thing, and I want students to experience the same,” said Steven Su, who teaches the Python programming course.

The classes are geared toward students in 4th – 8th grade, and these standout sophomores say the young students really get into it. The classes are free, some have over 60 students enrolled.

“A lot of students are bored at home and they want to learn something new, their other friends might be joining this as well, they want a place to be with other kids and a place to interact online,” said Iris Xue, a sophomore teaching competition math skills.

Right now, the students plan to keep the program going after schools re-open.

“They all show a great interest in our program and I feel like they’re learning and they’ll stay here and keep learning a lot when this quarantine situation blows over,” said Henry Ren, another sophomore instructor.

Kindling Curiosity is accepting applications from high school students looking to become instructors. They hope to add more courses in more subjects.

A list of current courses and how to enroll can be found here.