THOUSAND OAKS : NAACP Saturday School to Begin

A weekend school designed to boost academic skills as well as introduce African-American children to their heritage begins Saturday at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

The NAACP Saturday School, which runs for eight to 10 weeks, offers children from kindergarten to 12th grades classes in topics ranging from math to social studies. Each week features a guest speaker from the community.

The school, which is beginning its fourth year, is sponsored annually by Cal Lutheran University, Cal State Northridge, Moorpark College and the Ventura County chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

The day begins with an 8:30 prayer or poem before children split off into classes covering math, English, social studies, conversational Spanish, art expression and computer literacy. High school students are tutored in skills that they will need for the Scholastic Achievement Test, and the last class of the day is African-American studies.

Before the students go home at 1 p.m., a guest speaker talks about his or her profession and takes questions from the students, said Sharon Cooper, one of the school’s co-directors and the parent of two teen-agers who attend the school.

Cooper said she continues to enroll her children in the school because “it helps build their identity and (helps them) know who they are and where they came from,” as well as improving their academic skills.

Parents are encouraged to participate in the school, which costs $25 for the first child in a family, and $10 for each additional child. For more information, call Cal Lutheran’s Educational Equity Office at 493-3302.