St. Simon Baptist Church

County Line News Article

Church program provides tutoring for kids after school


By Mary Maraghy
Clay County Line staff writer

After spending about an hour playing a computer game, 9-year-old Dartanya Cabble grabs an orange, a bag of chips, a juice bag and a Rice Krispies treat. "I like coming here. You get to play on a computer and learn stuff," he said. "And there's good snacks." Dartanya, a fourth-grader at Grove Park Elementary School, is one of 10 students who attend an after-school tutoring program that started this year at St. Simon's Missionary Baptist Church on Miller Street in Orange Park.

Rayshawnda Morgan, a student at Orange Park High, works with
8-year-old Raymond Fullwood in the after-school tutoring program
at St. Simon's Missionary Baptist Church.
MARY MARAGHY/The Times-Union
 
Most of the students were church members, but the program is free and open to the public. The Rev. Bill Randall, the church pastor, provides transportation to the program with the church bus. He picks up students at Grove Park and Ridgeview elementary schools and Orange Park junior high and high school. Some parents of children in the program call Randall a surrogate parent and said they have called on him to pick up their child at school if he or she is sick or in trouble and they can't leave work or don't have transportation.

The after-school program is housed in two portables on the church property; one is a computer lab with 12 Internet stations. The computers were donated through Computers for Florida Kids, a program in which Florida inmates repair and refurbish donated computers as part of a vocational rehabilitation training program. The computers are then donated to schools and community groups serving children.

Students in the tutoring program at St. Simon's enjoy their snacks. Says 9-year-old Dartanya Cabble: "You get to play on a computer and learn stuff. And there's good snacks."
--Mary Maraghy/staff

 

Currently, St. Simon's has 30 computers it is trying to give away, said Deacon Lester Perry, who said Randall discovered a great pipeline for computers. Students can work on homework or play computer games while getting assistance and supervision from adult and teenage tutors like Rayshawnda Morgan, an Orange Park High School student.

"It's fun to come and help out," said 15-year-old Rayshawnda, who is also earning community service hours for school. Rayshawnda mainly works with 8-year-old Raymond Fullwood III. Raymond's second-grade teacher at Ridgeview Elementary School provides Rayshawnda with work for with Raymond. "My parents don't really know how to help with my homework sometimes. They'll say, 'My mind is going blank because I'm getting older,'" said 14-year-old Samara Clayton, who was recently working on an FCAT math practice sheet.

"Some of the tutors here are younger and understand better and can break things down better for me," said 14-year-old Lavonna Murry, an eighth-grader at Orange Park Junior High. Dominic Broadus, an engineer from Mandarin, recently became a volunteer tutor. Broadus, a member of the National Society of Black Engineers, said he met Randall at a conference and wanted to help the church with its program.

To learn more For more information about the after-school tutoring program or free computers at St. Simon's Missionary Baptist Church, call 215-3300.Donations of money or snacks are welcome.
"The mission of our society is to educate black children and help them become math, science and medical majors," Broadus said. Program organizers said providing programs like this for low-income children in the community has been tough because the area schools don't have enough students on free or reduced-cost lunch to qualify for free government programs. Plus, he said, Clay County doesn't have a Children's Commission like Jacksonville. In the past, to take advantage of some Jacksonville Children's Commission funding, church members tried to start an after-school program at Collins Place Apartments in Jacksonville. But transportation was cumbersome.

Betty Demmons, a teacher at Ridgeview Elementary School, ran a summer program for 30 children at the church this past summer. She's hoping to raise about $5,000 to do it again this summer. She wants to add swimming lessons and field trips for the children. "It takes a church to raise children," she said.

Staff writer Mary Maraghy can be reached at (904) 278-9487, extension 19, or via e-mail at mary.maraghy jacksonville.com .

Sites:online.