Anaheim YMCA program invests in students’ education

Long after the final bell at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Anaheim, more than 100 students from first through sixth grade sit quietly at their desks. The only sounds are of pencils moving, chairs squeaking and the occasional whisper.

This is homework time for one of the 46 schools where 4,800 students are enrolled in Anaheim Achieves, an after-school program operated by the Anaheim Family YMCA.

In room 16, first-graders have finished their homework assignments and are drawing a picture of a cat from a book. Some glance at others’ work. Some giggle. Some are fully absorbed. Once done, students must write a sentence describing what is happening in the picture.

“It helps them with their comprehension skills,” said Julia Turchek, a first-grade teacher who volunteers every Monday and Wednesday.

Now in its ninth year, the program works closely with several Orange County school districts, such as Magnolia, Savanna, Centralia and Anaheim, and collaborates with other support groups, including the city of Anaheim, Orange County Department of Education, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and AmeriCorps. Together they help address the academic and mentoring needs of children.

Many of the students enrolled in Anaheim Achieves come from low-income households.

The program runs from 3 to 6 p.m. each weekday, to keep students off the streets where they could get into trouble.

Beatrice Alcevedo’s daughter, a sixth-grader, has been in the program for a few weeks.

“It helps me and it helps her,” she said.

Alcevedo spends 15 hours or more a week commuting to and from Corona, where she works. Like many parents of the children enrolled in the after-school program, she gets home late, making it difficult for her to monitor the amount of time her daughter spends on homework and reading.

“At least here I know she’s either being productive with her homework or with a classmate,” Alcevedo said.

After homework, students spend an hour on fun activities such as a flashcard game mixed with basketball or cutting shapes from colored paper.

The program tailors its activities to each school. Some schools’ students struggle with math; others with reading comprehension or science.

At Jefferson, low literacy scores have led Anaheim Achieves to focus its homework time and enrichment activities on reading and comprehension.

Since 60 minutes is spent doing homework, any student finished before that works with a volunteer on word-association flashcards such as Brain Quest and Math Facts, or work sheets.

The schools also requested that students read for 30 to 40 minutes, with volunteers monitoring to make sure it gets done. Also, students are required to summarize in a journal what they have read.

Program officials point to an increase in 2006 state performance scores at Jefferson as proof that the academic intervention works.

“We do a huge evaluation every year and we’ve seen a steady increase in kids’ improvement,” said Paul Andresen, president and chief executive of the Anaheim Family YMCA. The organization has been providing services to the community since its founding in 1911.

Math and attendance have also improved, he said. The biggest improvements have been for children who speak English as a second language.

One reason for that, Andresen said, might be that the students are receiving an extra hour of English as well as homework assistance.

“We’re trying to get these kids positive things to make them feel good about themselves. Unfortunately, it’s only 20 to 30 kids out of the 4,000 that we do it with,” Andresen said. “But with every kid we get, we have an opportunity to make them shine.”

Apart from Anaheim Achieves, there are other programs that the Anaheim Family YMCA offers, such as the Children’s Station, which offers child-care services to the city’s low-income parents. There also are programs such as Y Camp, Y Youth Sports, Y Parent and Child, and Y Youth and Government.

The Anaheim Family YMCA received a $20,000 grant this year for its after-school programs from the annual Times Holiday Campaign.

The annual Holiday Campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family fund, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which will match donations this year at 50 cents on the dollar.

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ruben.vives@latimes.com