Why Do We Do This?
Many people have asked me "how did you get started and what inspired you to create a homework club?" My response consistently is "I did it for my son!"
We moved to Jeremy Ranch three years ago and our family did not know a soul. I was homeschooling my son during this time (kindergarten) so we had very few opportunities to mix it up with our community. I promised him when we moved from Southern California he would make new and lasting friendships just like the ones we left behind. We had said goodbye to our very special group of friends in California- the only friends my son had known. I realized that for these new relationships to develop it would take an effort on my part.
We started the homework club in 2005, initially with a few friends coming over to play with my son. I would set up science experiments and art projects as a way to create fun and interesting play dates. The next school year I met several new neighbors, many who were new to the Park City as well. With the support of my husband, I decided to extend myself and my efforts and host a Wednesday afternoon homework party at our house. The response from our neighborhood community was delightfully supportive. We soon developed a dedicated, consistent group of children and parents who came to my house each week with great ideas, information about our school (JRES), news about the community and offers of support. The children were excited to show off what they were learning in school. The homework actually got done! The older children eagerly helped the younger children. We had created a positive, fun environment for these kids.
Soon we realized that our group would have to think about community projects that could engage the children during those down times when they didn't have much homework -like winter break, spring break, etc.. We all decided together that we wanted our time together to be about more than just doing homework. This was when I first realized how engaged and interested in our success all of the other parents had become. The best part was that the parents and kids all liked and admired each other very much and looked forward to meeting up on Wednesdays.
The real "swing" of momentum happened when we decided to take on making decorations for the State of Utah tree during the Pageant of Peace Festival in Washington D.C. As we organized making ornaments and other crafts during the summer of 2007 many of us in our group realized that we have access to the most powerful force on earth - "kid power".
That realization has lead us to take on many projects including trying to develop a way to share the success of the Homework Club with other neighborhoods and schools. The feedback we received from others in the community about our group and what we were accomplishing gave me inspiration to apply to become a non-profit organization. So, the Neighborhood Homework Club was formally born September of 2007.
We have accomplished so much since September. Two families were able to travel to Washington D.C. and take part in the Pageant of Peace festivities. My family was one of the families who made the trip. We were at the Ellipse of the White House lawn when President Bush made his appearance to kick off the three week festival. We toured the White House, the Capitol building, several of the Smithsonian Museums, and saw the National Mall from the top of the Washington Monument.
We have also been involved in several worthwhile community and global outreach projects. We met up again in November to create more ornaments; this time to decorate on a tree headed for Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. The children met in the hospital lobby and threw pennies into the fountain and made wishes for those children who would spend the holidays in the hospital. We then headed up to a waiting room to decorate our tree with our handmade ornaments.
We just completed a Pennies for Peace drive where in just three months we raised just over $400 (in pennies!) to donate to the Central Asia Institute, an organization building schools and promoting peace in war torn Pakistan and Afghanistan. We met at the Coinstar at Smiths to turn in our pennies and each child got to hand me their dollars to give away. They were treated to Cold Stone Ice Cream treats (thank you Cold Stone) for their efforts.
Currently the children are working on their science fair projects. I plan to have MadScience from SLC come to my house and inspire them. They all think its just too cool that this counts as homework!
Those are activites we are involved in during the school year. We have fun when school is out as well. Each summer in July we build a "Friendship fence" made of wooden cutouts of the children. They get to trace , cut out, and paint their likeness. The first year we had 8 children. Last year we had 26 and who knows how many will show up this year - what a fun event and what a great installation of public art for Jeremy Ranch. To our group it represents cooperation and community. It is a beautiful sight and is sure to make you smile when you drive by and see numerous wooden children holding hands. Look for our next installation in July.
Who would have thought that a simple idea of getting together and having the children do their homework could reach out to others in our community and beyond. My philosophy is that our schools can only do so much. And we can help our schools be better. The values we want our children to have must come from our homes. We need to surround our children with positive influences and great mentors. That is my goal for my son. I have found the perfect "village" for him.
Stay tuned for our next fund raising effort. We have an exciting year planned!
Labels: NHC History
posted by Kristen @ 12:02 PM
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