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LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
Mackenzie Mountain School students got a little taste of the tropics every Wednesday afternoon during a new homework club this year.

Students took part in the Tiki Hut Homework Club at Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells earlier this year with volunteer teacher Gregor McGregor. Participants include, from left, Ryan Walker, McGregor, Rosaria Louison and Danielle Kochon. - photo courtesy of Michael Duclos

The event, known as the Tiki Hut Homework Club, attracted between five and 15 students every week, said organizer and teacher Michael Duclos. It ran throughout the school year and finished up last week.

Youth put on Hawaiian leis and ate a healthy snack before getting help tackling homework and projects. Tropical beach music playing in the background completed the effect, Duclos said.

"We are in the North and it's definitely cold up here in the winter time," he said. "We wanted to have a theme where kids could come in and feel warm, where it's friendly and fun music is playing. It just gives them a chance to relax and get into a homework zone."

The Norman Wells District Education Authority provided funding for the snack, which usually consisted of fruit, Duclos said.

Duclos said he was inspired to start the club after watching a presentation by David Eggers, a writer who created a tutoring centre in San Francisco by pairing kids needing extra help with English with writers in the area. Eggers' idea received a Technology, Entertainment, Design conference (TED) award in 2008.

Duclos said the homework club's goal is both to provide extra help to students and boost self-esteem.

"The more time you spend one-on-one, even if it's just praising them, the better they're going to be as adults," he said. "It builds character a bit more."

The extra attention is working, Duclos said. Though he hasn't been keeping numbers on how much grades have improved since the club began, teachers say some students' test scores are definitely on the rise.

"Having the club every week has been monumental on tests," Duclos said.

Gregor McGregor, another teacher and volunteer, said he agreed.

"The test stores are coming up for math and a number of other subjects," McGregor said. "Math is where I've heard about the greatest rise in scores."

McGregor said having a variety of educators helping out during the homework club offers students a range of different teaching methods.

If a student is not doing well in a particular subject in his or her own classroom, another teacher in the homework club might be able to teach the subject in a different way.

The club also allows teachers to spend time with students in other grade levels, which is great for teachers, too, Duclos said.

"I think the biggest thing I heard from teachers and I learned myself is that it's so refreshing to work with students you've never worked with before," he said.

McGregor said he and other teachers were impressed by how many students attended the club regularly.

"It's been a resounding success," he said. "We see a lot of the same faces

and it shows they're caring about what they're doing."

Duclos said the club will run again next year and the team hopes residents will also volunteer.

"We are hoping next year to get a lot more community involvement as well," he said.

The club's structure allowed teachers to work together by signing up to provide help on a rotational basis.

Duclos said working as a team helped make the club a success.

"Thanks to everyone who helped out with it, it's just a really great program," he said. "A lot of extracurricular activities focus on athletics. It's refreshing to have something different."

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