Homework Club

In the fall of 2007 I visited the ELL class at our local middle school. The students hailed from all over Africa, the middle east, Afghanistan as well as hot spots in Eastern Asia. They were a lively bunch, ready to learn, but struggling to read and assimilate to American culture. As teens the desire to fit in was especially keen for them.

I wanted to do something to make the transition easier.

I found my partner in the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council. A nonprofit serving over 6,200, GPLC has offices in a housing complex where many of the teens lived. Myself, another librarian and 2 GPLC teachers set up a tutoring program in one of the offices. Thus Homework Club was born. Our first year we had 5 students. By the second year our enrollment doubled. I found more volunteers: a retired reading specialist and his wife, another librarian, and high school honor students from a neighboring community.

Today we serve up to 30 teens over the school year. Besides coming for help in math, reading, social studies and science, these teens come for the sense of comraderie. Each week we swap stories, air grievances, share little victories. I know when Daruka has had a sleepless night or Ndey’s parents work until midnight, when Yahya has gotten into a fight at school. Each week I am amazed by their diligence and progress. When Yahya started our program he read at a 3rd grade level and barely spoke. Today he is reading at grade level and playing varsity football.

I am currently compiling biographies of each student’s amazing life before and after their arrival.