THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160244
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 65 lines
The fight between Thurgood Marshall Elementary third-graders Curtis Parker and Regina Benn was a beautiful sight.
Especially to Avelyn Chambers.
Chambers, the founder and director of the school's Homework Club, wished the heated competition over who could finish the math flashcards first could have commenced two months ago.
But a lack of funding and volunteers delayed the start of the 7-year-old Homework Club. The club finally kicked off Tuesday, however, with the help of the Making A Difference Foundation, a Virginia Beach-based volunteer group that is offering money and tutors.
Tuesday, 40 youngsters sat down with 17 teachers, Making A Difference workers and other community volunteers and cracked books.
``I think this is going to be a wonderful partnership,'' Chambers said. ``Even if they can't bring volunteers, they've agreed to help us pay for staff.''
The Making A Difference Foundation works to help children at risk of dropping out of school stay put through mentoring, training and tutoring programs.
When foundation co-founder and executive director Robert Bobulinski heard about the school's funding problem through a newspaper article, he said he had to help.
``When you see the energy level of (Chambers) and that of the school, you wonder why the school system wouldn't flood the school with the same kind of energy level,'' Bobulinski said.
``You can't trust the school system to help out. . . That's when we step in.''
Bobulinski said he will try to provide two or three tutors for the three-day-a-week club and provide enough money to pay nine teacher assistants to help - about $1,000 a month.
``This will be cheaper than the $40,000 to incarcerate a youth down the road,'' Bobulinski said. ``If we don't reclaim our kids now, we won't have much of a future.''
The Homework Club started in 1989 when Chambers recognized that some students could do better in school if they had ``a little extra time to do their work.''
While the club's paper and work supplies came from community groups, Chambers enlisted a few faithful volunteer teachers and community folks to tutor.
A couple of years ago, the club received some funding for salaries that brought more teachers and helped more children. This year, however, Chambers didn't receive funding for salaries - teachers are paid $15.60 an hour, teachers' assistants are paid $7.25 for after-school tutoring - and feared she wouldn't be able to help the kids.
The kids were worried too.
``This is fun,'' said 9-year-old Marcus Satterfield, who was in the homework club last year too. ``I learn a lot, but I have fun too with the Homework Club. . . I've been making good grades too.''
Chambers said she hopes to expand the group and sign up 70 kids during the rest of the school year. With the help of the foundation, she said she has a good start.
``We'll see.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot
Robert Bobulinski, left, founder of the Making A Difference
Foundation, helps third-graders Curtis Parker, second from right,
and Marcus Satterfield, right, do their homework.