Dan's Papers - March 21, 2008 - North Fork Libraries And Their Commitment

Libraries On The North Fork Show Their Commitment To Youths By Offering Homework Help

It happened quite regularly. I'd be doing my grade or high school homework at our dining room table when my father would pull up a chair and sit beside me. Maybe it was long division, perhaps reading about the Articles of Confederation, or I might be trying to locate some tiny country in my geography book. My father helped me with my spelling, reading and writing homework. Oh, he was good. And he attributed that to years of classes in Latin and Greek. If I ever disappointed him scholastically, it was in my failure to study Greek.

Well, Dad isn't around to help anymore. But I'm hardly ever faced with a long division problem. Tiny countries in a geography book? Most of them have different names now. Like Czechoslovakia. I never could spell it and now I don't have to.

Now if I were a kid with some homework problems, I'd head to the Riverhead Free Library on Court Street. While they don't have a dining room table or a loving father to sit beside a struggling student, they do provide something really good in the way of homework help.

That's simply what it's called. Homework Help. In its second year, the free program is for students (grades 5-12) who live, or go to school, in Riverhead. It is directed by librarian Laura LaSita who's in charge of teen programs at the library.

Laura's delight was obvious as she introduced me to Mary Kromhout, the thrice-certified teacher who works her magic with the students. Ms. K.'s certifications are impressive: social studies, elementary education, reading K-12. And she was a physics major at Southampton College.

Ms. K. and I walked to the Youth Program room where Homework Help students meet each week. A brightly lit room with windows looking out to a sunny late afternoon. Tables arranged in a semi-circle accommodated several students and their pens, paper, note cards, calculators - all that scholarly stuff.

Students sign in on Homework Help day (Thursdays, 3-5 p.m.). The number of young people varies, Ms. K said. Lots of students come just before Regents exams or other state tests. Who can blame 'em?

And there are some rules. Like no cell phones. Guess most of us can manage that for two hours.

The students themselves? Let's meet some. Rose Bake is a senior at Riverhead High School. Her guidance counselor suggested the homework program to Rose who is working hard on her expository reading and writing skills. At one point Rose looked up from her reading and said, "It's not that bad of an article."

Sounds like a faint praise but Rose understood what she read and there were smiles all around.

Then there's Riverhead High School junior, Doug Gaul. Doug's a busy guy. Lots of his time is spent as a member to the NJROTC program at his school. Every now and then Doug needs a little help with his math. And he has chemistry Regents coming up. Only thing worse than that is the physics Regents. Believe me, I know. Good luck, Doug.

Finally, say hello to Al Carini. Al, a high school junior, is home-taught. Right off, he set the stage. "I pretty much might know how to do this, but you can help."

They talked variables, exponents, co-efficients. I might add there seems to be one skill Ms. K. could not assist Al with - Al plays the bagpipes and Ms. K., a good teacher, knows her limitations, (although Ms. K. does play the clarinet).

But back to math. "Would you explain that again?" Al asked. Of course Ms. K would. This time Al got it and spoke those teacher-thrilling words. "Oh gosh, I didn't even notice that."

The next response from Al seems to sum up all the reasons for the Homework Help program at the library. "Let me think," he said.