Homework House

We have had technical difficulties but we have been busy...

2011-10-08T01:24:00.000-07:00

The school year has started off with a flurry of activity with our K-5 students running down the sidewalk into a freshly cleaned 9th Street site and running up the stairwell to the 6th Street site to meet new and returning tutors. The teens have gathered at the Teen site and are engaged in Math games, learning new vocabulary and expressing themselves through the written word.
We continue to need tutors and invite you to consider this as a way to give back to the community. Won't you join us?

Homework House staff learns all of the time...

2011-08-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

Such was the case today when we sat with a small focus group of parents and reviewed the Parent Brochure and our orientation and registration process. These parents were forthright in helping us: 1) identify what was important to add and delete, 2) clarify how our parents understand information that we were requesting and 3) best articulate in Spanish the information that was needed. A big thank you to our parents who participated! The staff learned a lot!

The friendly people from Kohl's

2011-07-06T15:35:00.000-07:00

Today some of the Kohl's employees joined us in organizing lunches and walking more than 80 of our students( grades K-5) out of their neighborhoods to the city library. They were energized by the questions that students asked and the wonderful smiles and giggles. Yes, they braved the heat and humidity on this June day to ensure that our students arrived safely at their location. The Kohl's team was actually headed by their store manager! It was wonderful to know that someplace that most of us shop also have a heart for their community and put their feet to work!

A time to express our appreciation

2011-06-10T18:13:00.000-07:00

Last evening was just that...the staff served a simple meal to some of our amazing supporters, students and parents. It was a time to say thank you from all of the staff but also a time to cheer in amazement at some of the accomplishments. Such was the case with one of our families who had 'logged' a tremendous number of hours in attempting to become more proficient in English. Or the student who had more points than any other in her study session but created a goal of beating her own personal best. And of course, there was the student who having recently arrived in the U.S. with no English proficiency but now reads well at grade level. So yes, I guess the evening was all about appreciation for the hard work of our students and parents and for the dedicated way that community members and organizations help us provide the needed tools. Thank you again .

Honor Thy Father and Mother

2011-05-24T16:27:00.000-07:00

This is just what one of our supporters did...all the way from Chicago! We received a generous first time donation and wondered about the connection. While there are only five of us on staff, frequently processing donations is a task of the Administrative Director or myself. Thus the donation, while much appreciated, produced conversation between the two of us. I even sent out a query to the board members thinking that the connection was from one of their contacts. And so the mystery began....
However, as we prepared to honor and thank our faithful supporters, his name emerged. I knew that his address was a Chicago one; but I decided to send him an evite anyway. And what a wonderful surprise to find that he lives in Chicago but was donating to Homework House because of his father who volunteers as a tutor with us!
Amazing....his dad has to be honored!

We are again humbled....

2011-05-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

This past week, one of our Eighth grade students' was recognized by Soroptimist of Azusa-Glendora in their Personal Growth Awards. These awards recognize junior high students who have made great positive changes during their junior high experience. We were honored because in her comments, she stated:" I want to thank Homework House for giving me the tools to be successful". So again thank you for supporting us in providing academic support to our students....all 187 of them! This was Homework House's beginning, providing academic support to students whose families were unable to do so. And so we continue not only to provide tools to the students but to their families as well. Thank you for joining us in the journey....we should all be humbled.

Sharing Grateful Lives and Talents

2011-05-06T00:20:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, our parent group organized a potluck meal and talent show in honor of mothers.
As the evening proceeded, two moms, at separate times shared with me their gratitude for the work we do at Homework House and shared how their lives were now different because of Homework House. One shared how she was provided inspiration and hope and as a result began her own cleaning business and her husband too is self employed in LA. The second mother had attended a goal setting session offered some years ago at Homework House and had taken all the necessary steps to become a licensed childcare provider. She shared that because she had experienced such change in her life that she now has as a passion to share with other Hispanic women about the many opportunities that they too can have. Further, she shared that she was designing a conference for 100 women at her church! Amazing!
These stories were such gifts to me and I wanted to share these gifts with you. We believe that God is using Homework House to provide hope and tools for families to change the trajectory of their lives. And how exciting that it was our mothers telling the stories, because there is research to suggest that changing the mother's vision changes the families' vision and changes neighborhoods.

Everyone has something to give....

2011-04-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

including our teens. Today a couple of our teens joined with one of our corporate sponsors, Athens Services, to help educate people about the environment. "It was fun...yeah, it was cool", stated our teens as they were able to share with people in West Covina about the dangers of plastic bags. They collected several plastic bags and handed out 'green'bags courtesy of Athens Services. The teens had fun and learned about the environment as West Covina hosted their annual Earth Day celebration.

You too have something to give-time. This week will be the last week that we will have most of our collegiate tutor volunteers. We rely heavily on the community members to donate as little as an hour to help our students with homework assignments. This donation of your time in the month of May will allow our students to finish their semester doing their best. Won't you give.....contact us at info@onhh.org

Did You Know?

2011-04-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

Did you know that...
1. After school hours are the peak time for students to engage in criminal activity and to experiment with drugs, alcohol and sex? (Source: Bureau, Urban Institute Estimate, 2000) Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2002.
2. Teens who do NOT participate in after school programs are nearly three(3) times more likely to skip classes or use marijuana or other drugs;they are also more likely to drink alcohol,smoke cigarettes and engage in sexual activity. ( Source: YMCA of the USA, March 2001)
3.A bi-partisan anti-crime organization has found that violent crime is most likely to occur between 3PM and 6PM.( Source: Factoids-After School All Stars)
4. A disconnected community is in jeopardy of becoming an unsafe community.
5. After school programs have the power to reduce crime, increase safety, bring neighbors together, and foster community pride and ownership. (Source:Factoids-After School All Stars)

Just in case you needed to be reminded of why you support Homework House kids and families!

Amazing Partnerships!

2011-04-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

You have already read about the many partners we have in our newsletters but today we just entered another agreement with Centro Latino for Literacy.
Why? Because as we provide information to the parents of our K-12th grade students, we have found that a number of them are not literate in their home language. The Centro has developed an online program whereby Spanish speakers can become literate in their home language. This program will provide the foundational tools for a number of our parents. Many of you know what research confirms; it is easier to learn a second language when you are literate in your primary language.
Homework House has historically offered English as a Second Language seminars and currently we are offering English via computer using Rosetta Stone. Some of our families have been discussing the program opportunities with other neighbors and we have seen an influx in the number of neighbors who would like to acquire English skills. This is exciting!
The new program, Leamos, will be a complement to the online English as a Second Language, GED, and Keyboarding programs. We know that equipping our parents will not only provide them new skills but increase their level of confidence in supporting their students in their educational journey.

More News

2011-03-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

Teens are learning about how to make better decisions not only individually but collectively. One of our students had an incident which necessitated parent contact. The Teen Director noted how loving the father was toward her daughter in encouraging her to make better personal choices. The father expressed his appreciation to the Director for making him aware of his daughter's struggles. Then the teens had a Teen Topic Night with therapist from Foothill Family Services focusing on Dating Violence. Students learned about not only sexual abuse but emotional and physical abuse as well and had engaged discussions on what made a healthy relationship.
The teens are encouraged to increase their physical activity--one way is through a partnership with an APU graduating senior that is focusing on dance. The students have taught her some dances and she has taught them. Check them out on UTube...Free Feet.

Our K-5 Sites are busy as well....
   9th Street: In order to encourage and affirm good habits such as on time attendance, Crystal, the Director, has begun an On Time Club. She has found that students are responding positively especially since the reward is dinner with Crystal at McDonald's.
Also Kudos to the city's IT Department! They first shared at Christmas with a family and then found a gently used sofa to donate to the same family. While most may not think that sofas are important, our family was actually using the sofa as a bed for one of our teen boys. Crystal heard from words of appreciation from a tearful mother.
   6th Street: Our parents and others have swarmed our offices in a desire to learn English as a Second language. The most surprising has been that the opportunity has traveled by word of mouth and we have neighbors who are coming in who do NOT have students at Homework House. As I write, two older members of our community are sitting at the computer. However, your heart would melt if you could have witnessed what Shana, the Director, was able to observe. One of our neighbors who have a three (3) year old was sitting at the computer and engaged in her lesson; repeating phrases in English. And shortly after she began her daughter too begin repeating the English phrases!

We invite you to visit!

You are making a difference!

2011-03-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

A thank you to all of you that attended our Dinner Auction! We were delighted to see new people and tell you the Homework House story.
Your contributions allow us to continue to provide academic support to our K-12th grade students. Further our teens attended Night of Champions on Saturday at APU. This experience will help them be more thoughtful as they make decisions. Our parents are not to be left out as they are completing on Monday and Tuesday a second part series with one of their favorite seminar leaders on parenting.
Thank you for the difference you are making!