Zach's Research

Many trips were made to the service learning center of Our Next Generation at Lisbon and 35th St. The organization has a few other centers where kids can come after school or during their free time to get tutoring help or participate in clubs and activities at no cost to them. Our Next Generation is a positive step forward in helping the surrounding community progress towards a better educational system, and a better community also. Although I dealt mostly with the Homework Club, they have many other clubs and activities to offer. These include (but are not limited to): Arts and Crafts, trips to Marquette University, Business Club, Club Fit, Club Express (including dance, art, music, and poetry,) and trips to the Urban Ecology Center (including canoeing, hiking, etc.)
The Homework Club is one of Our Next Generations after-school programs. Volunteers sign up to tutor a specific student, and over time get to know them. The students that participate in the homework club come from various Milwaukee schools. The Homework Club is not limited to elementary school students, the High School Connection caters to high school students looking for help with their homework, assistance in college applications or scholarships, or even just a place to go after school. I had the chance to tutor a student and got a close up look at what Homework Club was like, and also got to meet a student from the community.
In my opinion, it seemed like the program was very helpful for not only the students but their parents as well. The students were getting help with their homework, which helps them to keep up academically, and it also provides a place for kids to stay safely after school, and keeps parents from having to worry if their kids are up to par in the classroom. The environment gives the students positive interactions with knowledgeable and friendly adults that the kids, in some cases, might not be getting at home. Our Next Generation’s ‘Homework Club’ is helping to build the community in encouraging way. Students that do better in school are obviously boosting the level of quality in the educational system, as well as having the kids be happier and more positive, and most of all they’re learning to interact socially and build relationships.