Yesterday, I volunteered again at Palama for Homework Plus. Barbara Kozlovich, my dad's wife, is head of this fabulous after school program. Palama is a very poor district of Honolulu. The kids are in elementary school and can come to this place for two hours after school to get homework help. Some are excelling and others are very far behind. They are all needy and even if they don't need help they ask just to have someone sit with them and offer encouragement. There are rules and the teacher, Lynn, makes sure they follow them. The kids love her. They earn points for getting their work done correctly, for cleaning up anything that they used, for reading and for learning something new. I taught them some sign language.
With the points they earn they can buy things from the "store". They can purchase snacks, trinkets, or school supplies. These kids wouldn't have much to eat if not for free school lunch and the snacks they get from Lynn. It is a shame that this program has lost it's funding. They are trying everything they can to keep it going. I'll be volunteering each week as long as I'm here. Wish I could do more.
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