As students hit the books again this week, public libraries and youth organizations can be homework helpers, from after-school refreshers to the midnight cram.
Local Boys &Girls Clubs give out prizes for finished homework, while Sno-Isle Libraries’ online “Teen Scene” makes looking up facts or asking a librarian a research question at 1 a.m. as easy as a mouse click. Dan Bates / The Herald
One of the newest opportunities is at the Boys &Girls Club of Lake Stevens, which opened in fall 2004. The club last week celebrated a $5,000 grant from the JC Penney Afterschool Fund for expanding a session called “Power Hour.”
Students ages 6 to 18 can earn prizes – such as a movie day with root-beer floats – for doing their homework regularly or getting a good grade on a report. Tutoring also is available.
“A lot of people think of the Boys &Girls Club as all games. But we’re also here to help them through school,” said Tammy VanProyen, program director at the Lake Stevens club.
The grant money will pay for computers, software and bookshelves for a room dedicated to homework time.
The club has 1,200 members and sees 80 to 90 students after school for homework and other activities.
Tyler Mandarino, 11, will be a sixth-grader when classes start at North Lake Middle School in Lake Stevens on Wednesday. Besides moving up the social ladder, that means homework.
“If it’s really hard, I’ll come here. And if it’s not that hard, I’ll still come here,” said Tyler, taking a break from summer-camp games at the club last week.
The Boys &Girls Club of North Everett now has faster computers for its own “Power Hour” and other programs, and Henry Cogswell College students built and donated the 13 computers.
“Many of the children would not have this type of access to computers” otherwise, club director Dan Hornyak said.
The north Everett club had 1,375 members last year and sees an average of more than 100 kids a day during the school year.
About 10 percent of the 16,000 children who come to the county’s dozen Boys &Girls Clubs take part in the homework program, said Joy Ingram, a Boys &Girls Clubs of Snohomish County director.
Other clubs are in Arlington, Edmonds, south Everett, Granite Falls, Lynnwood, Marysville, Monroe, Mukilteo, Snohomish and Sultan.
Sno-Isle Libraries offers a host of resources, many of which don’t require a trip to one of its branches, just its Web site, www. sno-isle.org.
All you need is a computer and, in most cases, a library card – which also can be applied for online. Some of the features:
* “Live Homework Help” offers online tutoring in English, math and science for fourth- through 12th-graders from 3 to 10 p.m. daily. Help is also available in Spanish from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.
* “Learning Express” lets students practice online for the SAT, ACT and Advanced Placement exams.
* “Ask a Librarian” lets students e-mail research questions to reference librarians or chat around the clock with librarians across the country.
* Access to more than 70 online databases, including encyclopedias, directories, indices and subject databases.
“In many ways, it’s a library in and of itself, except it’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Mary Kelly, a Sno-Isle spokeswoman.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@ heraldnet.com.
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