Academic Support Center (CEA)

Aim

This projects aims to provide working children currently attending school with homework help. It aims to improve their academic performance and to discourage school desertion (dropping out). The primary mission of this program is to provide a safe place where working children can go to get reliable academic support, thus allowing them to be able to stay academically competitive with their non-working counterparts.

Project Information

This project works with up to 80 working children (the majority from the Camal market) aged six to sixteen who need extra help with their homework. Children attend CEA either in the morning or afternoon, depending on their school schedule. The CEA children are working children who are at an educational disadvantage to their non-working counterparts because they have less time to complete homework and fewer sources of help. As a result, CEA volunteers help with a variety of subjects, including but not limited to Language, English, Math, and Science. The CEA families have full access to other CENIT programs, and parental participation in CENIT's Parent's School is mandatory.

Volunteer Requirements

CEA functions from Monday to Friday in the morning and afternoon with two separate groups of children. A volunteer may participate in either session or both sessions; it is not necessary that a volunteer works Monday through Friday, but they must work a fixed schedule. The volunteers help the children with their homework and help the teacher control the children. They also provide educational and recreational activities for children who have already finished their homework. Ideally, volunteers would provide the discipline and structure necessary to create positive study habits. CEA volunteers should recognize that it is a place where children should feel safe and that CEA should reinforce that learning should be fun. Volunteers need at least basic Spanish skills, and grade-school knowledge of reading and writing. Volunteers with experience working with children with learning disabilities are in especially high demand. The minimum length of commitment as a CEA volunteer is two months.