‘Power Hour’ gets kids interested in learning

By Harold Gwin

A recent $25,000 grant will help pay staff and buy better educational materials.

YOUNGSTOWN — Jaylynn Powell enjoys spending time in the tutoring room of the Boys and Girls Club of Youngstown every day after school.

“We do educational games,” she said, explaining that the tutoring sessions are much more than just listening to a teacher talk.

She’s been working primarily on her reading and math, said the sixth-grader at Eagle Heights Academy, adding that the effort is paying off.

Jaylynn said she got two B’s and three A’s on her last report card.

Tutoring is a relatively new program offered by the club, which can no longer be considered just a social and athletic facility, said Robert Marchese, executive director.

The program, called “Power Hour,” was launched five months ago and was coupled with the renovation of two learning centers at the club at 2105 Oak Hill Ave. The South Side club saw the need and created a program to address it, Marchese said.

The effort got a significant boost with the recent announcement of a $25,000 grant from Charity Projects Entertainment Fund/Idol Gives Back, money that Marchese said will be used to pay the tutoring staff and buy newer and better educational materials.

The club has two full-time staff members who are certified teachers running the tutoring program, along with assistance from other staff members. In addition to homework help, the staff offers age-appropriate activities to stimulate interest in learning.

Reading is the key focus, and Power Hour is serving more than 50 young people on a daily basis. Children age 6 through 12 attend one learning center while those age 13 through 18 are in the second.

Most of them come in voluntarily to get help with their school work, although there have been some grandmothers who have led some kids in by the ear, Marchese said.

“We are grateful to Charity Projects Entertainment Fund for enabling us to continue utilizing such a high-quality homework assistance program,” Marchese said. “So many of the children we serve simply do not have access to the resources necessary for successful homework completion, which is critical to their everyday academic success.”

The club secured donations of cash and labor to renovate the two learning centers.

Money from the Alcoa Foundation of Warren, Boardman Rotary Club, Four Square Foundation of Canfield, Junior League of Youngstown, Youngstown Kiwanis Club and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation paid for new computers, new furniture and educational materials.

Buckhorn Remodeling Co. and Vision Home Remodeling Co. provided the volunteer labor to make the renovations happen.

“We sat the kids down and said this is a new program in Boys and Girls Clubs across the United States,” Marchese said, adding they accepted the change and the opportunity it presents them to improve their academics.

The club also is the South Side’s official recycling center in a program run in cooperation with Youngstown Litter Control & Recycling and the Green Team.

It’s Torch Club took third place in the 2007-08 national “Recycle For Life” competition, and members will be conducting cleanups in surrounding vacant lots later this spring.

gwin@vindy.com