sunspot.net - reading by 9

In a once-blighted housing project in Annapolis,=20 a transformation is slowly taking place, with an = after-school=20 literacy program playing what community leaders consider a = crucial=20 role.

The apartment complex formerly known as Boston = Heights=20 -- once described by local police as a "war zone" -- has = been=20 renovated in recent years. Now called Admiral Oaks, it is = home to an=20 onsite community service center known as The = Gateway.

Among=20 the best-attended programs at the center is the 3-year- old = Homework=20 Club, offered in conjunction with the Anne Arundel = County=20 Literacy Council. Kids from first through eighth grades = gather after=20 school in a small room in Building 430 at Admiral Oaks to do = their=20 homework, improve reading skills and play on = computers.

"It's=20 very important that they have a safe place to come after = school,"=20 said Kara Callahan, program coordinator for The = Gateway.

"The=20 children who attend the program every day after school learn = the=20 skills they need through working on the computers, and the = tutors=20 that work with them really help to improve their academic = skills,"=20 she said. "It really does help them stay in school and = encourage=20 them to do well and continue."

The Homework Club = meets from 2=20 p.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and draws about 30 = children=20 a day. Some at- tend every day the center is = open.

Shyneira=20 Smith, 9, a fourth-grader at Rolling Knolls Elementary = School in Annapolis,=20 said she likes the activities and services at the Homework = Club,=20 including the computers. "It's fun. I've been coming since = second=20 grade," said Shyneira.

Children are allowed to use = the 10=20 computers, each with Internet access and educational games, = after=20 they've finished their homework.

Lakeshia Wallace, = also 9 and=20 a fourth-grader at Rolling Knolls Elementary, said that the=20 educational computer games help improve her reading=20 skills.

Lakeshia, whose favorite books include the = Amelia=20 Bedelia series by Peggy Parish, said, "If I don't know how = to play a=20 game, I have to read the directions."

The children in = the=20 Homework Club are excited about the "Dinner and a Book" = program=20 scheduled to begin next month.

Originally called = "Reading=20 Night," the program was started as a family reading = activity. But=20 Kathie Cronin, volunteer coordinator at The Gateway, said = organizers=20 decided to refocus the program on children this=20 year.

Volunteers will provide the children with a = home-cooked=20 meal, which will be used to help teach nutrition, Cronin = said. After=20 dinner, the children will read with tutors and in small = groups based=20 on reading level.

The Dinner and a Book program will = be=20 funded through a $7,500 matching grant, half from the Local=20 Management Board of Anne Arundel = County and=20 half from the Literacy Council.

Callahan said that = some of=20 the funds will be used to hire a part-time reading = specialist who=20 will help develop the appropriate curriculum for each = reading=20 level.

Another fourth-grader from Rolling Knolls, = Liza=20 Ramirez, 9, said she was happy to sign up for Dinner and a = Book, and=20 is an avid participant in the Homework Club. "We learn a lot = of=20 things, and we do our homework and we do other activities," = said=20 Liza, who attends with her twin sister, = Elizabeth.

One of the=20 biggest challenges for the Homework Club and the Dinner and = a Book=20 program is finding volunteers, said Callahan. With 32 = children=20 enrolled, Callahan acknowledges that the Homework Club is = quite=20 crowded sometimes. Another room is available, but the = program does=20 not have enough staff to operate it.

Last school = year,=20 service-learning students from Anne Arundel = County=20 Community College helped with the program, and Callahan said = that a=20 few volunteers are from the Anne Arundel = County=20 Literacy Council.

Iona Thorn, 76, of Pasadena, has = been=20 volunteering with the program since it began. Although she = used to=20 volunteer to help adults with literacy issues, Thorn said = she feels=20 it is important for her to work with children before they = become=20 adults with reading problems.

"I decided that I want = to be a=20 part of the prevention," she said.

Callahan said that = Rolling=20 Knolls Elementary, the school most of the children attend, = is=20 committed to helping the Homework Club. She meets with its = principal=20 at least once a month, and said its Parent-Teacher = Association also=20 is supportive, with some members volunteering to give rides = to=20 parents of Homework Club participants to conferences and = other=20 school events.

Callahan said The Gateway will be = developing=20 literacy programs for adults in the future. The center has a = small=20 library with titles for adults and children, and while = Callahan=20 would like to see more programs, she and others are happy = with the=20 difference their efforts are making in the = community.

"We're=20 trying to create a generation of readers, and we're being = successful=20 here," said Thorn. "We see a difference."