Maintain the Brain
By Chris Van Sciver
“Um, honey?”
“Yeah, Mom?”
“I was just checking your school’s website to prepare for the coming year, and I saw that there is a summer math packet and a reading assignment due. Did you remember to do them?”
(Gasps!) “Oh no Mom! What am I going to do!? I was having such a great summer with all the interesting and fun things to do that you so generously provided for me to enrich my character and broaden my horizons that I completely forgot about the summer assignments!”
“Okay, Sweetie, don’t panic. I know just what we’ll do. I’ll print out the assignments now for you to get started on, and if you have any problems you for which you’ll need more help, the good folks at live civilly have people to help you on Wednesday.”
“Thanks, Mom, you’re the greatest!”
Does this sound familiar? Is anyone else in Moorestown having this conversation? Okay, so there may have been a little “creative license” taken in the dramatization, however the stark truth remains; there is little time left before the rigors of school work resume full time, and teachers and administrators expect that students will have completed their summer assignments beforehand. Many of you have probably tackled this challenge, but for those of you who have not yet finished –you’re not alone.
Every Wednesday for the past two months live civilly has sponsored Maintain the Brain, a summer program at the Moorestown Library. At Maintain the Brain, high school aged tutors help younger students with academic skills and summer assignments with the assistance and under the supervision of certified teachers Patricia Fox and Chris Van Sciver. We have eased the minds of many students and parents when getting over the hurdles of some assignments, like finding the greatest common factor or the least common multiple in word problems. We’ve aided in reading comprehension and vocabulary as well as assisting with writing assignments. We’re here to help you, too, but only for one more day this summer. The final Maintain the Brain sessions are this coming Wednesday, August 26 from 1-3pm and 5-7pm in the computer lab at the Moorestown Library. Please take advantage of this and other educational opportunities that we provide at live civilly.
In September we will resume the live civilly Homework Help sessions. Homework Help will begin on Tuesday September 22 and be held Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Tuesday afternoons will be on the 3rd Floor of the Church Street Recreation Center from 3:30-5:30. Wednesdays will be in the Moorestown Library Computer lab from 6:00-8:00 PM and again on Thursdays from 3:30-5:30 PM. Don’t forget, too, that if your 8th – 12th grade student has a yearning (or requirement) to fulfill community service hours, we are always looking for helpful, young scholars to assist other children with their schoolwork. As one parent shared with us, “I have to give a huge thanks to live civilly for offering this free tutoring program, it is awesome!!!! Hannah went last Wednesday and we will be going every week now. She really enjoyed it and I was truly impressed with the gentleman there running it. If anyone thinks their kids need a little extra help or just a nice supportive place to do their homework, this is definitely it!!! “
Maintain the Brain and Homework Help are just another way that live civilly programs are encouraging young people to engage in one another’s lives and help each other where help is needed. Just another example of people helping people helping people helping people.