LEARNING AFTER SCHOOL

From 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays at the Cape Girardeau Civic Center, students can do their homework in an environment that's very different from the classroom. They can help each other. And it's OK to talk.

"I think they like the atmosphere," says Willa Hamilton, who supervises the center's After School Program. "They like coming every day and seeing one another.

When volunteer Betty Freeman settles into the rocking chair at the Civic Center, children gather around in bean bag chairs or lie on the floor to hear her read stories.

This year, Freeman is adding arts and crafts, conflict resolution and social skills to her tutoring repertoire. She also volunteers at the Safe House and runs a detention program at Washington School,

"I like volunteering," she says. "I feel like I'm giving something back to community and I can be an example for children."

The tutoring program is open to all students kindergarten through high school, although most are in elementary school. Some students have pursued their GEDs with the help of the After School Program.

Seventy-five children were registered for the center's program during the last school year. Registration for the coming year begins Tuesday. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to register.

The program operates Monday through Friday afternoons from 3:30 to 6 and is closed on school holidays.

Hamilton, the only paid staffer, is responsible for matching students with tutors she thinks will be able to help them. "I'm the person who knows every student," she says.

At this point, Freeman is the only volunteer tutor from the community. Lloyd Williams, the director of the Civic Center, also helps with tutoring and is especially good with math.

Dr. Kathy Conway, a professor of elementary, early and special education at Southeast Missouri State University, provides the program with most of its volunteer tutors. They are Southeast education or social work students who initially receive credit for tutoring.

"A lot of the student volunteers volunteered for a course but continued on after the course was complete," Conway says.

The program had 40 tutors during the spring semester. Most tutors volunteered to work one day each week.

The program benefits both tutors and children, Conway says, adding: "It gets the college student into a real situation ... where they can work with students and get good positive feedback. They feel they're making a contribution to the community."

She said the volunteers serve as models for the elementary students, and "the best thing they can model is how to figure out an answer."

Conway was tutoring a student last year when they encountered a logic problem neither could solve. They found another tutor who helped them find the solution.

"Kids get to see that older people don't know everything. That this is how you figure it out -- ask," Conway said.

And by asking tutors, children find it easier to ask questions of their teacher, she added.

After they finish reading, the students can play basketball or participate in other activities in the Civic Center gym.

Freeman sees the effect the program has on the children. "If they know they're cared for, it brings their self-esteem up," she says.

No statistical evaluation has been done since the program began in the spring of 1997, but supervisors and parents alike are sure that grades have gone up.

One St. Mary's School student whose average grade was C when she joined the program now has a B-plus average.

"They're very proud of their grades," Hamilton says of the students.

Most attend Washington, Franklin, May Greene, St. Mary's and Jefferson schools. Those schools were targeted because they are close to the Civic Center, which has no means to provide transportation.

The program needs both more volunteers and funding to buy supplies. Hamilton says there are never enough pencils, crayons, paints, brushes and notebook paper.

There are plenty of computers used by the alternative education program that leases space during the day, but someone knowledgeable about computers is needed to supervise their use.