Lincoln Heights Tutorial Program- Helping Urban Children and Youth Prepare for College

K-12 STEAM education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Our after-school tutorial programs serve children and youth in homework help, math, reading, writing, and computer literacy. Field trips are also a part of the tutorial programs. Our youth clubs serve to build leadership skills amongst the local high school youth, and to give them opportunities to serve their own community. In our youth clubs, we have raised and continue to raise inner city youth to staff the sites, as tutors and role models for the children that come for tutorial services and youth clubs. Our current work also involves racial reconciliation amongst Hispanic and Asian children and youth. All of the students that we serve are considered at risk, and have family incomes that places them at poverty, well below the average for the U.S.

The Lincoln Heights Tutorial Program currently consists of tutoring centers, 2 youth clubs, 1 community advocacy committee “Increase the Peace”, and 3 high school campus academic clubs, serving the Lincoln Heights, Boyle Heights, El Sereno, and Chinatown communities.
It is our goal to raise many children and youth from the communities that we serve, to become great role models, attend college, and to be individuals who have a heart to serve their community through service projects and other volunteering opportunities. This works to reduce the flow of children and youth from choosing into a life of gangs, violence, and drugs, in these inner-city communities, and begins a transformation process of the community. In addition, our youth are engaged in community service projects that allow them to model positive achievements instead of the usual vandalism and destructive acts of teens in these neighborhoods. All of our Programs have been designed throughout the years, to maximize the influence and experiences of children and youth in our community. Our afterschool tutoring sites provide a safe and quiet studying environment for our children and youth, with our high school youth club members, and youth club college alumni, being role models and providing the homework assistance for the next generation of children. As tutoring staff, they also receive an extensive work experience training that we’ve incorporated for them into our tutorial programs

All of our Programs have been designed throughout the years, to maximize the influence and experiences of children and youth in our community. Our afterschool tutoring sites provide a safe and quiet studying environment for our children and youth, with our high school and youth club college alumni being role models and providing the homework assistance for the next generation of children. Language barriers for parents often leaves them without the ability to assist their children with their homework, and to correct it. Teachers have overcrowded classrooms, handling too large of a volume of at-risk students, enabling them to assist each one, sufficiently. Our afterschool tutoring centers have long since helped alleviate that problem for the parents and teachers. In most inner city communities, youth are the main element of negative influence and destruction of property.

In most inner city communities, youth are the main element of negative influence and destruction of property. Our youth clubs combine opportunities for community service, and a positive environment for teens to be encouraged to reach for higher standards for their lives than the usual inner city influence. This encouragement includes attending college. The combined events and opportunities for our youth, through our youth clubs, allows for inner city teens to influence their community in positive ways, and for them to become encouraged that they can counteract those in their community who are of negative influence.
The progress of our students in our tutoring programs are measured through Pre and Post testing in Math and Reading on an annual basis. In addition, we track improved attendance, behavior, and grade level.
For our middle and high school youth club members we track community service hours, high school graduation and college of attendance rates.