Day 3 - Maine - LearningWorks

I have found that I write better in bed. Weird, perhaps, but I feel as though I am enveloped in an impenetrable cocoon, that no one can get at my words and meaning but me. So here I am, moments from sleep, having my final dialogue of the day with you, dear reader.

It is terrifying to have no immediate roots, exhilarating and terrifying. We have no place to lay our weary heads. I have to ask to take a tub. I can’t leave my cloths on the floor without feeling like a bum, guilty conscious weighing on my shoulders like a wet bath towel. Oh me, oh my. But that is neither here nor there, really, because we chose to do it. It is just a bizarre feeling to be looking for your check book, only to have someone inform you that the last time they saw it, it was packed in the cooler that is now packed in the third box on the left, two from the bottom. Or was it on the bottom? Could it the box two from the right and third from the bottom? So you tear all the boxes apart to find out your really did have some foresight and the checks were locked safely in your glove compartment all the while. Oh well, enough of my musings. On to business!

Well (observe me screeching to a cognitive halt), I don’t even know how to begin. Really I don’t.

I guess I should start with what this program does, but I almost want to start with details. I want you to be as excited about this organization as I am, right off the bat, out of the gate, before we even really get down to it. I have been procrastinating all evening, packing and repacking, staring at a blank computer screen, the cursor taunting me, because I don’t know where to start. Blink, blink, blink. Oh, go blink yourself, cursor, because I just had a thought. I am having a hard time capturing exactly how I am feeling without sounding horrifically pessimistic. Well, here it goes. I walked out of LearningWorks, our stop in Portland, ME feeling…well, feeling tremendously hopeful…about education.

Don’t get me wrong. Please, please, please don’t misunderstand me this early on (and, please, pardon me if I stumble a bit in my explanation). I hold education on a pillar. Almost nothing is paramount to the importance of education in my opinion. But, a great number of people do not have adequate access to education. You know what? I find people have very specific ideas when it comes to the meaning of “education” and “educated”. So for the purposes of our discussion, we will define education as “learning”. Sure, we do hear success stories, but for every victory, how often do we hear about high school dropouts, or kids “failing” within the system. How often are these kids categorized as “dumb” or “worthless”? How often do people stereotype immigrants in this country as “lazy” and “having no desire to learn English”? How often are snap judgments made or are people ready to give up on these populations without really understanding them?

Scratch the idea of starting from the middle. I need to start from the basics (a strong foundation is integral to any understanding, right?). LearningWorks, formerly known as Portland West, was established in 1967 as a neighborhood activist organization dedicated to protecting the west end of Portland, Maine from gentrification and the implementation of anti-poverty programs. As the organization’s focus shifted toward education, the name was changed to LearningWorks, because, well, learning does work. The organization is an alternative school that offers a wide variety of educational programs to at-risk youth, the immigrant community, and low-income families. Learning Works provides three core programs, all of which provide educational opportunities to those who face consistent – yet surmountable – obstacles to their achievement, such as poverty or a concomitant lack of resources. They have established that assets such as English language & cultural literacy, a GED, job counseling, mentors, enrichment curricula, and alternatives to detention will give individuals a better chance at long-term success. LearningWorks serves those who seek the power of education and does so through a whole variety of programs, some of which Tim and I got to sample during our day of service.

Let me give you a quick rundown of their programs, just to demonstrate diversity of LearningWorks:

Affordable Housing – LearningWorks owns and manages 54 affordable housing units through out Portland. In the past 6 years, this program has provided housing for more than 250 families.

Resource Center – An evening drop-in center where middle and high school students, as well as adults can receive homework help, in addition to learning computer skills.

LearningWorks Afterschool – This program serves students from Reiche and East End Community Schools, providing children in grades 3-5 with academic support, homework help, and enrichment activities.

English Language Program (ELP – An educational opportunity for new immigrants needing English language and cultural literacy skills. Adults in this program work on individualized learning programs to gain the necessary skills to be independent in a new country.

Service Works – LearningWorks collaborates with public and non-profit organizations to develop community projects through which juvenile offenders can make restitution for criminal behavior, in addition to learning life skills and experiencing the rewards of helping others.

Alternatives to Detention (ATD) – A structured and supervised alternative to incarceration focusing on therapeutic intervention and prevention for youth involved in the Juvenile Justice System.

Back on Track (BOT) – Curriculum-based group therapy for at-risk youth. Utilizing cognitive behavior and anger management tools, BOT educates, supports and facilitates positive change for teens involved in the Juvenile Justice System.

Youth Building Alternatives (YBA) – A nationally accredited education program that works with young men and women who have dropped out of high school. The program provides classroom instruction toward a GED, as well as job-site skill training for future employment.

Take a minute to wrap your head around that. Go ahead, read through the list of programs again. Don’t worry, I’ll wait. Any questions? Want to save them till the end?

Emily, the Volunteering/Mentoring program coordinator (Hey, you noticed I didn’t mention the mentoring program, didn’t you? The mentoring program is a new offering that pairs volunteers with youth, immigrants, or individuals from low income families in order to provide the mentee with support, guidance, personal connections), created an amazing schedule for our day with LearningWorks, allowing us to experience three of their program offerings. We began the day with the English Language Program, spent the afternoon with the Youth Building Alternatives, before finishing out our day with the LearningWorks Afterschool program.

Maine in the winter can be frosty. Not in a “charming” way, like the snow man, but in a “bone chilling, slice right through what ever you are wearing and freeze you to the core” way. In fact, the morning we were at LearningWorks was downright frigid, yet 20 students from the all around the greater Portland area came to the ELP class. Some of the students had a 2 bus, hour long commute to the LearningWorks facility, but still they came, fighting a battle against the cold, bundled in armor coats and scarves and snow boots.

There was an incredible diversity of students – Somalian, Arabic, El Salvadorian – all gathered in one classroom before dividing into 3 level appropriate classes, some staffed by volunteers, others by employees. During the two-hour lesson, instructors taught, and students interacted, in various languages, though predominately in English, sometimes halting and tentative, other times fluid and cavalier. Tim and I had the opportunity to work one on one with students, completing exercises that reviewed color, clothing, location, and plural versus singular. Each student eagerly accepted correction, asked questions, and laughed easily. It was fun.

The afternoon found us at the YBA program, working in different parts of the curriculum – Tim was in the classroom and I was in the workshop. The program is structured so that half the students spend a week in the shop and the other half spend the week focusing on class work, switching the following week. A week in the shop and a week on class work. Switch. This rotation repeats for around 9 months, preparing the student for the GED while helping them cultivate life skills that will enable them to gain employment after they graduate. During their time in the program, the students have to compile a portfolio, and then, before graduation, defend their right to graduate, infusing their routine with self awareness and self reflection.

In the workshop (that the YBA students built), I worked with 3 students to build workbenches, supervised by their instructors. The guys worked diligently and silently, expect for the occasional quip. They lined up the wood, hammering the ends the 2x4 to even and clamping them into place. They were spectacular tabletops, and though intended for the work site, easily could have been designed to go in a kitchen or dining room. While we glued and clamped and hammered, other students were dry walling, caulking, and painting, finishing the construction on the hallway joining the shop to the rest of the building.

Upstairs, Tim read “Catcher in the Rye”, discussed the book question, and played a quick, yet competitive game of scrabble. Though he doubted “darted” was actually a word, he was quickly proven wrong by the student playing that hand. There by their own volition, the students took pride in their progress reports and were eager to check their scores, crowding around the daily scores board once scores were posted.

In the late afternoon, Tim and I were treated to a game of basketball by the kids in the afterschool program at Reiche. We ran back and forth over the small court, half trying in the beginning, then trying hard once we figured out how athletic some of the kids were (pant, pant, pant…to be that energetic again!). We returned to the LearningWorks building for snacks and homework time. I helped an extraordinarily bright third grader with her math homework (though she needed no help, she got every question correct). Tim read a book about dinosaurs and helped a 4^th grader write a paragraph on the book (Tim noted that he was, like me, auxiliary to the process. His student plugged away at his paragraph, needing no assistance but enjoying the company). We got to tell them a bit about our project, to which we received a multitude of questions: “If you work at a shelter, will you sleep there?”, “Where do you live?”, “Are you married? Related?”, and, one of the most poignant, “Are you showing people all the sad things that are happening everywhere?”

I have to admit, that last question caught me off guard. I had always thought it was obvious that this journey was intended to focus on “the good”. The good people are doing, the good organizations are doing. But I can see how the little girl thought we would be focusing on inadequacies and problems across the nation. I tried to explain that we acknowledge that there are problems, but we want to show people positive things. Things like immigrants traveling an hour to come to an English class 5 days a week, so that they may succeed in this country. Things like kids who have been failed by “the” education system (please consider my phrasing, they did not fail, they were failed) seeking out alternative resources and educational programs that put them in a position to break the cycle of generational poverty. Things like young kids being set up with resources that will keep them engaged in school and education. That is the good we want to convey.

181 Brackett St.

Portland, ME 04102

207-775-0105 (t)

207-780-1701 (f)

Big, big, big thank you to everyone at LearingWorks, but especially: Emily (your scheduling skills are unparalleled. You really let us see all the great things LearningWorks does!), Susannah (thank you for all your help!), Paul (thank you for your insight into the ELP), Elizabeth (I felt like a sponge soaking up all the insight, knowledge, and experience you had to offer. And thank you for having TIm and I work seperately, so we could see both sides of the YBA), as well as everyone in the work site area (I now feel as though I can actually, maybe..okay, possibly build some sweet tables. Thank you for your patience). A tremendous "Thanks!" to all the awesome instructors (both volunteer and otherwise) which make this organization tick as well as the students who attend classes at LearningWorks in order to better themselves. You are the "good" that inspires others.