Boys & Girls Club of Erie County

Project Learn
Project Learn reinforces and enhances the skills and knowledge young people learn at school through "high-yield" learning activities at the Club and in the home. Based on Dr. Reginald Clark's research that shows fun, but academically beneficial activities increase academic performance, these activities include leisure reading, writing activities, homework help and games like Scrabble® which develop youth's cognitive skills. Project Learn emphasizes collaborations between Club staff, parents and school personnel. Formally evaluated by Columbia University, Project Learn has been proven to boost the academic performance of Club members.

This is the Boys and Girls Clubs of America's educational enhancement program. Project Learn is not a curriculum. It is a strategy - an approach to designing a program schedule that benefits members academically. Project Learn has five components:

Homework Help and Tutoring
A safe, quiet, allocated space to help Club members develop the daily habit of completing homework and class preparation with the benefit of staff and volunteer encouragement.
High-yield Learning Activities
A range of activities such as discussions with knowledgeable adults, leisure reading, journal or poetry writing, games utilizing cognitive skills, such as Monopoly and Scrabble.
Parent and Community Involvement
Activities designed to get parents more involved in supporting their children’s academic development.
Collaboration with Schools
Consultations with teachers to discover ways to reinforce and support what is happening in the classroom.
Incentives
Rewards such as pizza parties and book bags for Club members who actively participate in educational enhancement activities.