PROJECT LEARN

Challenging Children to Learn

“The after school program teachers are so nice! They help me with my work and they give us a delicious snack. After we finish our homework, I have friends I can play with.”

— Current Project Learn Participant, age 10

“I volunteer at Project Learn because I want to help out and repay the kindness the people at Project Learn have shown me.”

— Kids for Kids mentor, age 12

Project Learn is an outstanding after school program in the city of Bridgeport with an emphasis on academics. The program provides after-school homework help, healthy snacks, recreation and enrichment activities for Bridgeport school children, ages 5-12. Focusing on small groups of learners, Project Learn reaches children through neighborhood-based learning centers located in public housing developments and in neighborhood congregations. Staff and volunteers provide children with the love, encouragement and respect they need to thrive.

Each learning center focuses on encouraging, educating and enriching the lives of the individual child and his or her supportive network. The emphasis on homework-help programming with small groups of elementary school children works! Project Learn staff have documented significant improvement in the children's overall grades, behavior and social skills.

The Kids for Kids Initiative adds a winning dimension to Project Learn. The program engages inner city teenagers, often graduates of a Project Learn Center, to serve as mentors for the younger children, offering teens a productive, mutually beneficial alternative to simply “hanging out” after school. Kids for Kids mentors receive a stipend, along with training in leadership skills.

Project Learn enjoys a strong partner relationship with the Bridgeport School System, particularly with the neighborhood schools in which Project Learn sites are located, for we share a common interest in the education and well-being of our children.

For more information on Project Learn please contact Program Director, Sean Campbell at SeanCampbell@ccgb.org.

Sean Campbell, Director of Project Learn, with 12 yr. old Keylantra Langley. Keylantra has been a Project Learn student for 5 years, & in June was named valedictorian of her 8th grade class! She plans to continue her involvement in the program as a "Kids for Kids" mentor.

Project Learn Opens New Site

Project Learn provides after-school homework help, healthy snacks, recreation and enrichment activities for Bridgeport school children, ages 5-12. Focusing on small groups of learners, Project Learn reaches children through neighborhood-based centers located in public housing developments and in neighborhood congregations. Project Learn challenged 184 children to learn over the past school year.

The East End site was chosen, said Program Director, Sean Campbell, because it is an underserved, predominantly Latino area of the city.

"This neighborhood has a very high incidence of social problems such as violence, drugs, and a higher school drop-out rate. It was clear that the children here will really benefit from our after-school program," said Sean.

Father José Diaz Martinez, pastor of St. Luke's/St. Paul's, was very receptive when approached by The Council staff and volunteers about the prospect of hosting a Project Learn center. He said that although an after-school program was needed, his group required assistance in establishing and running a center. In addition to providing the facility, located at 598 Kossuth Street, Reverend Diaz Martinez and volunteers assisted with recruitment of staff and outreach efforts directed to the local school as well as to parents.

The new center opened on Monday, November 21st, and welcomed 14 kids on the first day. Attendance has grown every week, and will be capped at 25, to ensure that the children receive personal attention and help. The Center staff includes Edna Garcia, Center Coordinator, and Luz Diaz, Program Assistant. Church members are now being recruited to serve as volunteers, starting early in 2006.

The other Project Learn centers, all in Bridgeport, are located at Jesus Saves Ministries in the East End; Summerfield United Methodist, on the East Side; Trumbull Gardens, in the North End; and Walters Memorial AME Zion, South End. Total enrollment this year is expected to pass the 200 mark.

If you are interested in more information, or in volunteering at one of the Project Learn centers, please contact Sean Campbell at SeanCampbell@ccgb.org.

To make a contribution to Project Learn using your credit card through our secure site, you may go to the menu on our home page, or go directly to www.justgive.com.