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The Brampton Guardian
The homework club
The Brampton Guardian
Thursday January 26 2012
The Hillcrest Central School homework club sat on the carpeted steps of their library, patiently waiting for their parents to pick them up at the end of another day, Jan. 9, 4:10 p.m. In the top row, shown left to right, there's Ryan Schiestel, Symen Vander Vlies, Sarah Combe (organizer), Chase Lee, Remco Vander Vlies (top) and Travis Sanford (bottom). In the middle row, left to right, there's Conner Lee and Clay Connolly. In front is Cruz Connolly.
 
BRAMPTON - Now homework doesn't have to be done at home, thanks to the Hillcrest Central School's homework club. This club, under the leadership of local Sarah Combe, and with the support of Principal Jeff Moser, meets after school Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, to complete that work they couldn't finish during the day.
Sarah Combe is a former student from Hillcrest herself. Since then she's gotten her Bachelor of science from McMaster University and hopes to work in physiotherapy. Though she is not attending teachers college, she was recommended for this position by the school's parents board, and she jumped at the opportunity. Combe said she likes the program because it can accommodate so many different age groups. Students from kindergarten to Grade six have attended thus far. Not only that, but they keep coming back. There's no commitment on behalf of the students, and still the numbers in the program have been steadily growing. According to Combe, “the threat of not coming back is enough for them to behave.”
When attending the club, students can work on any homework or project they may have, with Combe's help. If they don't have anything to work on, they're given worksheets for math or English. By the end, if all work is finished, they are allowed to play educational games on the computers, or sometimes Combe organizes group games.
Moser applied for the program's funding initially, after having worked with a similar program at another school. It was first run at Hillcrest last school year. The program didn't start until November 2011 this year, which is when Combe began running it. After the club finished for the day Jan. 9, Combe commented, “I hope the kids keep coming back, so I can.”