ready-for-life youth initiative

Bienestar Homework Club Outcome Report:

Montebello, Sunset Gardens, Reedville, Jose Arciga, and Elm Park                                                                                                   September– December 2012 Term 1, 2012-2013 School Year

Background

In September 2012, Bienestar opened its doors to 116 eager students for the 2012-2013 Homework Club year. This year we have five apartment complexes hosting Homework Club: Montebello, Sunset Gardens, Reedville, Jose Arciga, and Elm Park. The students enrolled in Homework Club live at the Montebello, Sierra West, Sunset Gardens, Reedville, Jose Arciga I and II, Jose Echeverría, Willow Park, and Elm Park apartments, located from Aloha to Forest Grove. Homework Club was held in the community rooms from 3:30 – 5:15 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in accordance with the Hillsboro and Forest Grove school district calendar. Thank you to our generous funders, without your support we would not be able to hold Homework Club for our resident youth: Bank of America, The City of Forest Grove, The Forest Grove School District, The Irwin Foundation, The Standard, The Jackson Foundation, and Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust. 

Registration began mid August for all students from first to sixth grade living in Bienestar apartments. Students had to turn in their report card from the previous year to secure a place in Homework Club. Each student who registered was given a backpack with materials to start their new year at school. The backpacks were collected from various donors through Hands On Portland with Kaylen Miller taking the lead on collecting and filling them with a team of volunteers. A special thanks to Hands On Portland and all those who donated, gathered and put together the backpacks and materials; the students and their families were very appreciative of this act of kindness.

Gracie Garcia and Elena Barreto met with five out of the six principals of the schools the students attend to talk about the Bienestar Homework Clubs and elicit their help throughout the year, as needed. Thank you to the teachers we have been in contact with thus far, for your help and dedication to the students’ learning and success. All Homework Club coordinators and assistants were also given training on classroom management and teaching techniques to run a smoother and more efficient Homework Club. Thank you to Herb Jahncke, a teacher from Catlin Gabel for taking the time to engage the staff in questions and advice.

In each Homework Club, students were given the opportunity to create their own list of rules for the classroom and all students signed a large poster board agreeing to follow the rules. A meeting was also held with all the parents to explain the rules and expectations for the year. The parents were given the guidelines to go over with their children at home and sign that they agree and will abide by the guidelines. Parents were also given an anonymous survey to inform staff how they feel about how homework club is running and if they have any feedback.

Homework Club continued with the same activity schedule used in previous years: snack time, homework time, reading, activity time, and clean up. This year a new science and arts and crafts curriculum was introduced during activity time to give Homework Club more structure and enhance learning opportunities for the students. Once a week the students engage in an arts and crafts project and the other day a science experiment. Staff developed these activities to last about 30 minutes. Some of the projects included personal nametags, origami, and many of the projects were holiday related such as decorative skeletons and turkeys, Día de los Muertos skulls, ornaments, and cards. Some of the science experiments included mixing oil, water and food coloring; making constellations; testing your dominant side; mixing baking soda and vinegar; exploring living and non-living things; and static electricity. Throughout the experiment staff and volunteers encouraged students to make observations and think about what is happening during the experiment, why they think it is happening and to write or draw about it. The students enjoyed the science experiments, particularly the messy ones, and are slowly learning about how their world works.  

The students had the opportunity to use the computer labs to complete their homework and research information. Staff and volunteers were flexible with the daily routine, giving students the time necessary to complete their homework and use enrichment worksheets and workbooks, in math and writing to work on when they did not have homework. The Forest Grove School District got a new reading curriculum and donated all of their unused books and workbooks to Bienestar. Thanks to this, many of our students have reading workbooks to work out of when needed.  The students were responsible when completing their homework and focused during reading time. Students could choose to read on their own, in pairs, or in groups and take turns listening to each other.

Staff and volunteers supported students by answering questions about homework. Volunteers also helped the students with their math and reading by asking questions about what they had read to help the students develop comprehension, vocabulary, and reading fluency.   

Students were given incentives to act responsibly and kindly toward other students, staff and volunteers. Kindness tickets were handed out to students who were cooperative, helped someone in the classroom, and were kind to others. After receiving five kindness tickets the student could choose a prize. Once the group as a whole received 30 kindness tickets they could vote on an idea for a small party to celebrate their accomplishments.

The last day of homework club, students were able to decorate holiday cookies the staff and a group of volunteers baked for them. They had a lot of fun decorating the cookies with icing and sprinkles! The students were also given a book to take home for the holidays thanks to a donation from Bazillion Books.

Attendance

The year began with 24 students at Montebello, 26 students at Sunset Gardens, 22 students at Reedville, 24 students at Jose Arciga, and 20 students at Elm Park. Three students from Reedville were unable to complete the term because they moved out of the apartment complex. The remainder of the students attended 91% of the time. Many of the absences were due to doctor’s appointments, or clubs and conferences at school the students participate in. At Sunset Gardens, three students failed to appear at Homework Club and one of spaces was then given to another student to attend. Students attended 90% of the time and absences were due to doctor’s appointments and other excused absences. Elm Park’s attendance was also 90% for this term. Many of the absences were also due to illness or doctor’s appointments, and one student moved out of the apartments towards the end of the term.

Attendance at Jose Arciga this term was roughly 85%. Absences were caused by sickness, and other excused causes. One student left because she was unable to come to Homework Club consistently and two students moved out of Bienestar apartments within the first month of Homework Club, however, four students joined in the middle of November. At Montebello, students attended 85% of the time. Absences were caused by catechism classes, sickness, doctor appointments, and other excused causes. One student left Homework Club to participate in a tutoring program provided by her school, while two students joined in the middle of December and are excited to be a part of Homework Club.

Special Thanks

Bienestar is grateful to all of the volunteers who helped work with the children and Make Home Club possible. Volunteers came from Pacific University and Hands On Portland, PCC Rock Creek, and Catlin Gabel High School to help make Homework Club a success. Thank you to our volunteers Martin Hill and Daniela Torres from Jose Arciga; Valerie Huang, Ana Alejo, Lorena Salazar, Lisa Griffen, Magali Villaverde, Dee Montague, Sheryl Willis, and Roberto Villa and his team of Catlin Gabel teachers and students for helping at Reedville; Adriana Costanzo, Dana Cartensen, Savannah Danko, Hannah Chase, and Katya Gibson at Montebello; Jessica Blaske, Ruben Garcia, Marianne Monson, and Amber Morgan at Sunset Gardens; and Leah Klaas, Jorge Andrade, and Jorge Zurita at Elm Park. Thank you all for your consistent and positive presence this term, Homework Club would not run as smoothly without you.  A special thank you to the Homework Club coordinator assistants for their incredible dedication to the program and students: Paula Green, Olivia Vance, Karina Soriano, and Jorge Tello. Finally, thank you to our generous funders: Bank of America, The City of Forest Grove, The Forest Grove School District, The Irwin Foundation, The Standard, The Jackson Foundation, and Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust. 

Grade Analysis

Four out of the five homework clubs had a decrease in GPA this term. This is due in large part to summer learning loss. The majority of our students return to school after three months of not practicing reading, writing, or math. Returning to a new classroom environment, a new teacher, and new grade material takes time to get accustomed to. The teachers and students learn about each other throughout the first term and how the other works and functions inside the classroom. The same is true for the Homework Club classroom. The students begin learning the skills they will need to know to succeed in their current grade. Returning for the second term the students know what they are coming back to and are more comfortable with their environment. The teachers also know how the students learn and are better equipped to support them academically.

Grades Outcome for Reedville

The net improvement for Term 1 was a decrease of .05; 12 students had a positive net improvement and 5 had a negative net improvement. The overall GPA of the students at Reedville also decreased by .10 (Term 3= 2.12; Term 1= 2.02), 9 students GPA decreased and 8 increased. Three students increased their homework grade classification from “Inconsistent” or “Usually Consistent” to “Consistent” while 4 decreased from “Consistent” to “Usually Consistent” or “Inconsistent”. Please see the attached report card analysis chart for a thorough examination and explanation of grades.

Grades Outcome for Elm Park

The net improvement for Term 1 was an increase of .41; five students had a negative net improvement and 12 had a positive net improvement although the overall GPA of the students at Elm Park decreased by 0.13 (Term 3= 3.33; Term 1= 3.20), seven students GPA increased while 10 decreased. For homework, six students kept the same homework grade from last term which was “Outstanding” and five students with “Satisfactory.” Four students dropped from “Outstanding” to “Satisfactory” but two students increase from “Satisfactory” to “Outstanding.” Please see the attached report card analysis chart for a thorough examination and explanation of grades.

Grades Outcome for Sunset Gardens

The net improvement for Term 1 was an increase of .30; ten students had a negative net improvement, ten had a positive net improvement and three students have modified instruction, therefore, net improvement is not accounted for. The overall GPA of the students at Sunset Gardens increased by .30 (Term 3= 3.09; Term 1= 3.12), 11 students GPA increased while 11 decreased. For homework, five students had the same homework grade from last term which was “Consistent” and four were “Usually Consistent.”   Seven students went down from “Consistent” to “Usually Consistent” or “Inconsistent” and one more from “Usually Inconsistent” to “Inconsistent.” However, four increased from “Usually Consistent” to “Consistent” and one from “Inconsistent” to “Usually Consistent.” One of the students received an “Interferes with his Leaning” grade and has an IEP (Individual Education Plan) to accommodate his learning. Please see the attached report card analysis chart for a thorough examination and explanation of grades.

Grades Outcome for Jose Arciga

The net improvement for Term 1 was a decrease of 2.86; 7 students had a positive net improvement and 14 had a negative net improvement. One student had no net improvement. The overall GPA of the students at Jose Arciga also decreased by .20 (Term 3= 3.07; Term 1= 2.87), 15 students’ GPA decreased and 7 increased. Two students increased their homework grade classification from “Inconsistent” to “Usually Consistent” or “Consistent,” while 6 decreased from “Consistent” to “Usually Consistent,” “Consistent” to “Inconsistent,” or “Usually Consistent” to “Inconsistent”. Two students maintained their homework grade at “Consistent,” while 3 maintained their grade at “Usually Consistent.” We were unable to calculate the homework grade for nine students due to a lack of homework grade evaluation. Please see the attached report card analysis chart for a thorough examination and explanation of grades.

Grades Outcome for Montebello

The net improvement for Term 1 was a decrease of 2; 6 students had a positive net improvement and 12 had a negative net improvement, and 2 students had no net improvement. The overall GPA of the students at Montebello also decreased by .35 (Term 3= 3.04; Term 1= 2.69), 15 students’ GPA decreased and 5 increased. Two students increased their homework grade classification from “Usually Consistent” to “Consistent,” while 10 decreased from “Consistent” to “Usually Consistent,” or “Usually Consistent” to “Inconsistent.” Six students maintained their homework grade at “Consistent,” while one maintained their grade at “Usually Consistent.” We were unable to calculate the homework grade for two students due to a lack of previous homework grade evaluation. We were also unable to calculate the overall GPA equivalent and the Net Improvement in Subjects for two students due to the students’ participation in modified instruction. Please see the attached report card analysis chart for a thorough examination and explanation of grades.

Respectfully Submitted,

Elena Barreto, Ana Osborn, and Javier Urenda

Homework Club Coordinators

January 2013

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• Read Outcome Reports of our Youth Initiatives

Born to Learn, which uses the nationally accredited Parents as Teachers curriculum, is one of the most important youth programs implemented at Bienestar to date. The program provides upstream support to promote the cognitive development of low-income, Latino children through coaching families with newborns and toddlers about the importance of interactive play, socialization, nutrition, and reading with their children.

Born to Learn is the crucial first step that sets the foundation of Listos Para Vida, a program designed to help low-income, Latino children of farmworkers be healthy and happy, achieve academic success, gain self-sufficiency and move out of poverty. The need to incorporate Born to Learn became evident when the instructors at our local Head Start programs reported that the children of Bienestar families were already "behind the curve" at the age of 3. This lag in skills can handicap children throughout their school career, and lives. Therefore it was essential that Bienestar take action.

The adults in the Bienestar community have an average educational level of just the 7th grade, and while they understand the importance of an education, they are not prepared to support the necessary cognitive development of their toddlers, giving them a strong start, without proper coaching. By participating in Born to Learn, parents learn effective ways to interact with their children from a very young age such as interactive games and activities. Methods to encourage language development, learning about numbers, shapes, and to foster language and reading readiness in their infant or toddler are also taught. A principle idea the program tries to instill in the parents is that they themselves are their children's first teachers, contrary to cultural belief that only school teachers are legitimate teachers.

24 children, ages one month to three and a half years from 21 families were registered for Born to Learn in October 2012. This is an increase of 13 more children than the previous program cycle. Parenting support groups are held once a month to discuss topics such as child and brain development, stress, the importance of play, music, reading, the difference between abuse and discipline, cultural differences, and how the upbringing of the parents' affects them now. Following the discussion topic, an activity is done with the parents and children, typically story read aloud or music game to show parents how the lesson can be implemented on their own.

In addition to the monthly parenting support groups, families receive a monthly, one hour home visit from bilingual/bicultural staff that have been trained through Parents as Teachers to use the curriculum and implement during home visits. Overarching themes that will be discussed during the hourly home visits will be family routines and environment, child and brain development, safety, attachment, goals, health and nutrition, sleep, temperament, discipline, and transitions. Each of these topics will be catered to the age and need of the family. We are grateful to our funders of this program: Bank of America, Portland Women's Foundation, City of Hillsboro.

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