Experiencing Our Next Generation

After going and helping at Our Next Generation I now have a better understanding of what the facility does. I observed children grades 1st-6th and the tutors that helped them during their time at the Homework Club. The Homework Club is an after school program set up by Our Next Generation to help students with questions related to homework. The program uses community members and volunteers to help the students. What I learned from interviewing one of the staff members (Sarah) was that the Homework Club started in a church congregation area in the early 1990s and grew in popularity to the point where they needed a bigger facility. The main intention for this program was for the community members to succeed. The staff members also informed me of how the Homework Club has helped improve the attitude and behavior of the students who attend. What I found most interesting was that this particular program has a waiting list of children wanting to join and the typical attendance for students was a little over 80% with about a quarter of the students having perfect attendance.

After interviewing one of the students I found out what the students actually liked about this program. One little girl in first grade said that she liked the help she got from the program and that she had been in the program all year. When I asked her if she liked coming to the Homework Club she responded, “Sometimes, but then my mom comes to pick me up!” Her personality was particularly optimistic and she was very eager to learn and answer my questions. She informed me that the Homework Club isn’t just for homework but that the children also have snacks and games they can play after they finish their homework. She told me that the games were her favorite part of the club and she tries to finish her homework right away for that very reason. As I walked around I noticed that the relationship between tutor and student developed and that the students seemed very disciplined while they were with their tutor. There were of course a few exceptions to the rule but I found that the less focused students were paired with someone newer and had not developed a personal relationship with them yet. Overall, I was surprised at how attentive the younger students were and how much was accomplished in an hour’s time.