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November 24, 2007 - Clarion Herald
After School Centers Provide Learning and Fun
By Christine Bordelon
At 3 p.m. on any given weekday, students begin arriving at St. John Community Center’s After School Assembly Program for three hours of homework, art, tutoring, playtime and snacks.
On a recent Thursday, lead teacher Mary Myles called out spelling words to Brandi Stevens, 9, a fourth-grader at Holy Ghost School, while teacher Dana Love concentrated on a reading worksheet with first graders.
“Repair … department …prepare … article,” Myles said as Brandi feverishly jotted them down in preparation for a spelling test the next day at school.
“I think it does a lot for these kids,” Myles said of After School Assembly. “I believe this program is an outlet where kids can come because it’s not so rigorous or structured the like a normal school program.”
After School Assembly, an outgrowth of Catholic Charities’ successful Summer Witness program, is open to public, private and parochial school students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It’s a free program, after a $25 registration fee.
It began in the 2006-07 year at St. John the Baptist Community Center and Gert Town Community Center in New Orleans and now has expanded to Hope Haven Center in Marrero and Holy Family Church in Franklinton.
“We wanted to carry the whole education piece into the school year,” Leslie Christoffer, education program coordinator for Catholic Charities New Orleans, said.
Each center is staffed by educational specialists – adults who are current or retired teachers or those with experience in the education field. Volunteers from Tulane and Xavier universities and independent volunteers through Catholic Charities Volunteer Services Department also assist, Christoffer said.
The instructors see themselves as teachers, confidantes and parents and laud the program for reaching students at a young age.
“The earlier you have intervention with them the better, because they are at this molding age,” Love said. “With a lot of hard work, you can guide them in the right direction.”
With almost one-on-one attention, teachers can zero in on a student’s problem areas.
“If we see a weakness in a particular subject, we try to address it as much as possible,” Myles said.
And this year, tutoring and math and reading readiness programs such as After School Kidz Math, Trail Blazers and RexTreme have been added to help students academically improve, and there’s more art enrichment such as dance.
“Initially, it was to give kids a safe place to go and get help with homework,” Christoffer said. “This year, we implemented a reading and math program and arts enrichment.”
Four days a week at the St. John Center, Young Audiences artist Eli Ivory demonstrates cartooning.
“You’re almost through here,” Ivory patiently told first-grader Andreil Kenny, 6, as she worked on cartoon strip. “Go ahead and draw some clouds.”
“Under the sun?” Andreil asks.
“Under the sun,” he responded.
“All you have to do is split the blocks into four, and you’re going to make a story about the sun rising and setting. All you need to draw is a house, some grass and a sun.”
Of the four centers in operation, participation is highest at the Holy Family Center in Franklinton, with 67 students. That location had a very successful summer program and has transportation provided by the Washington Parish public school system.
Close to 30 students attend the three other centers and must find transportation. James Herbert, lead teacher at Holy Family, said it’s been a great benefit to many parents who have a long drive to work in town.
“We provide a needed service because they can get home at 6 p.m. and know their kids are in safe care,” Herbert said.
In addition to tutoring, Holy Family has a monthly cooking program provided by a grant from the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, weekly art and occasional field trips. Franklinton’s success has prompted Christoffer to try open four new centers in Washington and St. Tammany parishes by the 2008-09 school year.
Dee Jackson, parent of firstgrader Nishell Riley, 6, appreciates the program. It makes her evenings less hectic.
“Nishell really enjoys coming here,” Jackson said. “(Because of this program) the only thing that I really have to do when I get home is look over her homework. This is real helpful, and the staff is great.”
Christoffer said stronger efforts will be made this year to track students in school.
“We are in the process of meeting with the superintendents of each system to see how we can better work with the schools to improve school scores and general academics,” she said. While the students are reaping benefits, so are the teachers.
“I go home every day and say I helped someone else’s child,” Love said. “And, I helped myself, too, because I feel good about that.”
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