The Charles Street Community Center And After School Program

              We are the Charles Street Community Learning Center based in the North End, Providence.  Over the past two years, under the vision and perseverance of Mario Mancebo, a great team has been established in developing a multi-purpose community center to support day care, infant care, after school programs, community based meetings, and our variety of educational development activities including salsa classes and karate.  At our Center we are taking a realistic stance on youth education.  Our group firmly believes that educating the young is the most important piece of keeping an intelligent attitude throughout the community. 

            While doing research for his doctorate degree, Mario discovered the pressing need of this neighborhood and particularly for the children here.  He designed his thesis to include the opening of this Center, as a community beacon where kids can feel happy, safe, and supported in their endeavors.  By offering a stimulating environment, and great role models, we will be teaching real skills and delivering an opportunity for kids to come off the street and out of the various violent and delinquent lifestyles, and explore an environment of health and development.  A better education builds a better future, and makes for a strong and vibrant America.  We hope the kids will be encouraged by our independent presence and find initiative to learn in the areas that interest them. 

            The program in focus here is our After School.  The students arrive here at 2:30, brought by bus, where they are met by members of our volunteers and staff.  There are various classes being offered, and the kids have had a chance to choose what they would like to learn.  We split into different rooms to have focus, as the teachers follow a strong curriculum.  We have contact with the schools in the community and work directly with the administration of those schools to implement successful programs that support in some degree what the students learn in the classroom. 

            The participants of our After School Program will obtain a variety of new skills pertaining to their courses, but everyone in total will be more prepared in a path towards university and a strong career.  Our students will gain more sensitivity to music, cooking, dancing, and the arts; also they will be able to pursue classes in technology, chess and robotics.  As an independent organization, we expect the most from our staff, and volunteers will also be able to gain experience by working with the children.  The students will be learning about cooperation in groups and how to respect the learning environment, which we hope they will cherish as a protected zone where they are allowed to express themselves. 

            In the process of researching for his doctorate, our president, Mario Mancebo, found that a program like ours was needed in this community particularly.  He began to develop his vision for a new and different concept for the North End.  This was two years ago.  Since then he has independently funded the purchase of our building, 663 Charles Street, the multitude of interior improvements, the work in developing the curriculum and funding plans, and cooked literally hundreds of meals for our staff and volunteers.  The opening of this center is the completion of his thesis for the International University of Management of England. 

            The inspiration for this group is to open a dynamic community space, which is a standardized, clean, safe learning environment for the entire community. We offer a strong example of stability and creativity to our local neighborhood.  Many varied groups choose to have their meetings here, and this is a complement to our great stature in the North End.  The highest expectations and action toward fulfilling our individual goals as educators, are delivered here at the Charles Street Community Learning Center.  Having and maintaining this space allows us to pursue youth education in an environment, which is not directly federal, and this effect is not lost on the children.  We think it is important for the students to become accustomed to learning in a variety of environments, as the goal is to teach them to learn always. 

            People with many different backgrounds who entirely love to help the community put our programs together.  This includes teachers, business people, and a variety of scholars with different degrees that come to work together because they want the satisfaction of seeing the community grow.  Educationally, our programs are based in good research about national tactics, and also life experience in how students respond to different methods of learning.  As a locally based, community driven organization, we are devoted and adept at addressing the need of this particular community.

            Through our Center as it stands, we work to strengthen the community in whole.  We are the only local after school program, which is not held in the school which the students attend during the day.  So this affects the kids to change the mentality from “in-school” to “after-school.”  We believe this has fantastic benefits and the students gain energy when they come here for the afternoon.  We are also the only that invites students from various schools to our program.  Bringing the students together outside of school has a great effect, as does bringing the parents together.  We hope this will bring cohesiveness to the community, as they recognize our Center as a place of warmth and help for everyone. 

We are working to raise the standard of living by providing more skills to the students.  By offering a variety of programs, we try to offer something for everyone: an area they are truly interested in, and may pursue as their life’s work or study.  If, as adults, our students can support themselves with skills and be happy in exploring those pursuits, they will not need to involve themselves in crime and intoxication.  We have an effective and realistic program that incorporates the entire environment of life for these children. 

Our home is here at 663 Charles Street in the North End, Providence, Rhode Island.  We provide service to students from a number of schools, them being: Esek Hopkins Middle School, Times² Academy, Windmill Elementary, and Veazie Street Elementary.  We are not discriminatory and provide for many of the “disadvantaged youth.”  The majority of our students come from families, which live with income below the poverty line.  The North End is a diverse community which has seen a lot of new immigration mixing with the traditional Italian background.  We are adequately prepared as a multicultural and bilingual institution. 

In Providence today, as in most major U.S. cities, there is a major wave of disenchantment within the youth in their attitude toward school.  It is a shame that they are not finding the accurate environment which stimulates and inspires them to learn.  Instead many see it as just another institution which is not set up to help them, and do not afford them the lessons which are important in the world as they see it.  In effect, they come to admire criminal lifestyles which exist outside of the system they believe themselves to be reacting against.  Many of the schools are not effectively providing interesting skill-sets the kids can build on, which would provide them with a drive for the future and improvement of their craft.  This lack of skill sets then further encourages the youth to pick up the criminal skill set, which is readily taught on many streets, in an environment which the kids see as real.

Simply, the schools are not effectively educating the students.  Many graduates are barely qualified to work retail.  They do not enrich the community and instead make problems as they pursue their ‘greatest dreams’ of trying to become rich without creating anything special or lasting.  We all feel the frustration at watching many young people today fail to take any advantage of their life, and instead remain stagnant in a consistent cycle in pursuit of money.  Even more simply, school is boring.  Students react against the daily drudgery and simultaneously throw away their key to self-advancement, as they come to associate books themselves to be as boring as many a public classroom. 

There are organizations which address this problem, there are many after school programs in place which try to supplement public education and create a more stimulating and dynamic environment.  We work with these groups in Providence.  PASA, the Providence After School Alliance, is one of our funding agencies and we host many of their courses as well as our own.  Yet for this season, they were only able to provide funding for three of the eleven courses we proposed.  They are offering us a very meager $24 a day for the use of our space, not nearly enough to cover actual operating expenses especially as winter arrives.  We have also asked numerous businesses in the community for support, but are finding that the community is poor and cannot give too much.  In this position, we are researching various resources we need in order to continue as the best community education center in our area.

We have tremendous advantage as an independent organization, for our students to deliver the respect to us and the environment we maintain.  We appeal to the students as individuals enjoying exploration in a worry-free location.  The programs that we offer are designed to make the kids realize that learning is not their enemy and not ‘uncool.’  It is actually the tool, which will allow them to be real, and strong adults who do not need to stoop to crime or other indecent acts including begging on the street.  Their life is up to them, and they make daily choices designing their future, whether they know it or not.  We encourage the kids to think about this before they are in a position where they are forced to think about it, in a situation such as criminal troubles or an unexpected child.  We -truly believe- that education is the way up, and if we can encourage our students to become proactive in this process, they have the ability to open an entirely new world, which they may have never glimpsed.  At this point, they can begin to challenge and enrich themselves.

We are working to heighten and strengthen the educational experience of youth.  We allow them to explore different areas of learning than they would normally encounter.  We are showing them the light of exploration.  Opening doors to the internet and the information age, we also want the kids to understand things they are interested in and pursue it themselves, not just to follow what they are told to do by educational administrators.  Most specifically, we are offering courses in diverse subject areas, and allowing the kids to pursue these interests in a great environment, taught by the most quality people in our community.  The classes we have currently designed and are ready to offer include: Cooking & Gardening, Painting & Art, Guitar, Karate, Cuban Dance, Computers, Robotics, Environment, Singing, Chess, and Character Development.  The curriculum for each of these eleven-week courses is included in this package with course descriptions. 

The completion of our course will not be the completion of our student’s education.  They will be learning real skills that we hope will be advanced for a lifetime.  Even still, there will be a great and noticeable advance in their abilities relating to the class they took.  At the end of the season, our Center will host a showcase presentation featuring the artwork, performances, food and laughter they have been learning to create.  This will be an impressive event and we also hope this will cause the community to unite.  The ability to communicate and express themselves is another great part of what we are teaching here, and we hope this focus will come out when it is time for the kids to share their new talents. 

To achieve all these great things, we will be persistent in planning the program that will be most effective in support of the goals.  We must be realistic about negative aspects, and constantly verify that progress is occurring, and if not, be reasonable and dynamic in correcting the plan.  We will be meeting with the instructors regularly to be sure they are following the curriculum.  Monitoring the programs throughout the process, and making adjustments as called for, is one important part factored into our plan.

Responding to the input of our instructors, the board of directors will meet frequently on decisions and to analyze our resources.  We will hire a Center Coordinator to streamline many of the processes involved with running our place.  As we gather funds, we may allow simplicity and focus to thrive.  There are many things that can be done here, which have been taken care of by just a few people.  If more people can be supported to help us share some of the tasks, this can all become much more effective and efficient.

It takes many people to provide the type of experience we are offering.  First most is our teachers.  They are all required to hold a bachelor’s degree, and chosen personally by our group.  They are the ones who do it day by day and it is very important that we can attract the best people from the community to be here and enrich this mental environment.  Also we have student volunteers who are in college, which provide great help as they pursue education internships.  They are great role models for our students, and we love having them around.  Our chefs are Johnson and Wales graduates. Our Center Coordinator will also have a college degree.  Everybody working in the building will be background checked and fingerprinted.

All of this will take place throughout the school year, in the afternoons.  Each student chooses two courses and takes them each two times a week.  The classes are three hours long and held in different parts of our building.  We also provide snacks and food for the students and in this receive support from the Rhode Island Community Food Bank in this pursuit. 

Every moment that there is a young person in the Charles Street Center, engaged in learning, exploring, playing, and socializing, we know that we are succeeding in our goal of providing a healthy and nurturing environment within our community.  The quest for knowledge happens every day, and our students are well supported as they choose to advance and challenge their minds.  Our staff is very invested in the development of the students, and remains perceptive to each one in making sure they are learning and enjoying our space.  Our curriculum is designed to move at a steady pace, which does include for different learning levels, and understands the challenges included.  These classes are introductions to the relevant worlds of thought, and no students will be unable to follow, even if they cannot absolutely master each individual task.

In conclusion “The mission of the Charles Street Community Center and After School Program is to provide a safe, empowering, and nurturing environment in the community where all residents have access to daycare facilities, kindergarten-12th grade academic help and support, recreational and artistic endeavors, as well as other services in a safe, friendly and productive setting.”

Mario Mancebo (President) & Matthew E. Bergeron (Vice President)