A group of Langley Middle School students meet once a week in Room 116 for an hour. Sometimes the faces change, but they have a common goal. Homework.
While some students can’t wait for the end of the school day, to play sports, watch television or just hang out with friends, the students who meet for an hour in room 116 every Wednesday afternoon are there to get help and sometimes give help to other students with homework.
Eighth-grader Kelly Howard says since she began attending homework club in sixth-grade “my grades have improved.”
“Since math has changed so much over the years, my mom can’t always help me with it,” she said. “She tries hard but it’s just so different from when she was in school.”
Some homework club tutors are volunteers in middle school math classes. One of those is Sue Bigger, who is a math para educator at the middle school.
Last week, most of the 11 students were there working on math problems. Math is challenging and Bigger and two other tutors were working one-on-one with each student to demystify fraction strips.
Sixth-grader Rowan Firethorne said he just didn’t understand the math assignment — seven problems dealing with fractions — during class that day.
“This is helping me finish my homework assignment,” he said.
The Homework Club formed five years ago to provide a place where students receive extra tutoring in math, English or social studies.
Students are referred to the club by teachers or parents by their own choice.
“When a parent calls a teacher with concerns about their student’s academic process, it’s nice to have this alternative to offer them,” said Tim Gordon, assistant principal at the middle school.
The Homework Club is part of the South Whidbey Youth Center Tutor-Mentor Program, where middle school and high school students are matched with adults for academic assistance and friendship.
The Homework Club gives students one more opportunity to receive academic help.
“For us, it’s all about helping students succeed,” said Kathy Hein, director of the tutor-mentor program.
The tutor mentor program began five years ago and is funded by a $25,000 grant from Decuren, a private, non-profit Seattle foundation, which also funds the Coupeville Tutor/Mentor Program.
Since the first year there has been a 25 percent increase in the number of kids or participate in the tutor mentor program, the homework club or both.
During the 2002-03 school year, there were 116 matches between students and adults. So far this year, Hein has made 30 matches at the middle school and eight at the high school.
The tutor-mentor Program matches community volunteers with students at Langley Middle School, South Whidbey High School and Langley Christian School who need academic and mentoring support. The community volunteers provided 1,254 volunteer hours during the school year 2001-2002.
