Homework assistance at Corona library

Ten-year-old Emely Nunez said that she had a tough time with multiplication and division. &#8220Sometimes I don't understand how to do it,” she said shyly. &#8220They show me how, and if I do it wrong, they show me again.”
They are the tutors of the Homework Assistance Program (HAP) at the Langston Hughes branch of the Queens Public Library in Corona, and thanks to a $50,000 federal grant secured by Congressmember Joseph Crowley, HAP will add more math tutoring, field trips, and test preparatory books and supplies to their program.
The program, begun in 1975 for third through seventh graders, enrolled 400 children for their summer reading program in 2006, and worked with 1,300 kids last year through various activities.
However, their main work is after-school tutoring. Every weekday after school, about 100 kids file into the library at 100-01 Northern Boulevard from 3:30 to 5 p.m. for homework help and tutoring. After completing their homework in groups, and having their tutors review their work, the kids are given extra math problems, vocabulary quizzes, and test preparatory for state standardized tests.
After school programs are essential to the development of kids like myself,” Nunez told the gathered politicians - Crowley, Borough President Helen Marshall, State Senator John Sabini, and State Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry - library staff, HAP tutors, and their students for the check presentation on Wednesday, October 11.
Since joining the program in first grade, Nunez's schoolwork has continued to improve, she said, and her teachers at school have noticed the difference.
For the HAP program, the $50,000 boost comes several years after cutbacks at the City's Department of Youth and Community Development, which provided the original funding for the program, threatened to close the after-school tutoring.
Josephine Edwards-Browne, the Director of HAP, beamed at the podium, while running down a list of activities she hoped to add.
I assure you Congressman Crowley that the money will be put to good use,” she beamed.