Washburn High School’s ‘The Homework Club’ has remarkable results

NINA MOINI: --Emily. Well, every Thursday after school at Washburn High School in South Minneapolis, you'll find about 40 kids gathering to enjoy a meal, have fun, and learn. It's called the Homework Club. And it's a space specifically for students of color to connect and get caught up on their work. Joining me now is Heather Anderson, the organizer of the Homework Club. Thanks for being here, Heather.

HEATHER ANDERSON: Thanks for having me.

NINA MOINI: And we also are very excited to have a member of the club, Torey Riddlespriger, who is a junior at Washburn. Thanks for being here, Torey. I hope we're not pulling you out of school for this. We'll just take a few minutes. [LAUGHS]

TOREY RIDDLESPRIGER: Yeah.

NINA MOINI: All right, well, I appreciate both of you being here. Heather, so I understand the Homework Club started almost two years ago. Tell us a little bit about what made you want to start it at Washburn.

HEATHER ANDERSON: Yeah, I was signing my children up for track, and I bumped into three students who weren't able to participate in track because of academic ineligibility. And when I talked to them, it wasn't that they actually had standards they were missing. There were circumstances beyond their control that were keeping them from making work up.

So I offered to stay with them after school the next week, and to see if we could get a meeting with that teacher and get caught up. And so I brought some snacks, and we did some homework. And at the end of that time, they said, could we do this again next week? This was really fun, and I got a lot done. And I said, sure.

So the next week, I brought snacks again. And we started to do some homework. And then it doesn't take long. I had like, what are you all doing here? I want a snack.

And that grew over the next few weeks into a group of about eight of us. And then I started grabbing some McDonalds because it seemed like they were going through the snacks really quickly. And now we are about 25 to 50 students strong. And we eat a full dinner together every week.

NINA MOINI: Wow, amazing! Torey, I'm curious what made you want to join the Homework Club. Was it the snacks?

TOREY RIDDLESPRIGER: I joined because my grades were low and I wanted to play football. So the only way for me to play football was to get my GPA up. And Ms. Heather came to me because her son played football, too. And they helped me get my grade up to play football. And that's why I joined.

NINA MOINI: OK, and what about it do you enjoy, Torey, because you could have a tutor, right? But this is more than just doing the work. What do you like about Homework Club?

TOREY RIDDLESPRIGER: Well, what I like about it is that there's other kids just like me struggling with either same homework or different type of homework that we can all help each other with. And it just feels like a big community, too.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, Heather, I'm curious about-- you mentioned that it's not always a challenge around just homework. It can be needing rides places. What are some of the unique circumstances that you see? And how are you better able to tailor things to the individual student?

HEATHER ANDERSON: I think what we really get at is that schools, America, is not really a space that is intended or carved out for students of color. And what we do at Homework Club is we build our table together.

A long time ago, I remember talking to a parent at a school, and she said, we don't want you to build the PTA and have the PTA and set it all up and then invite us. We want to be there from the beginning. We want to know that you thought of us from the conception.

And so when we built Homework Club, we really built it with the students in mind. So as they have needs, they tell me, and I go try to source those needs. But they're not coming to my program. We're coming to our program.

NINA MOINI: I watched a video about this program, too, Heather, where you said something striking. And it was, it's not all about homework and making sure you get the basics and then having fun, like fun is something to be earned, or entertainment and community something to be earned. It's something to have around from the start. Is that part of what you're getting at?

HEATHER ANDERSON: Yes, and students don't have to do homework in order to get food. Sometimes a student will come and grab a bite to eat and leave and leave and leave. And when they're ready to join our community, they stay and take their Chromebook out.

NINA MOINI: And you cook the meals yourself, Heather? Or how do you keep that sustained? That seems like a task for 50 people.

HEATHER ANDERSON: It is a task. I mean, I think that one of my favorite parts is I share the brilliance of the students that come to Homework Club with my community, with my social media followers. And so they donate some things.

And then I do cook some things. Right about Monday of every week, I start to think about what they would love and the joy of setting the table. Sometimes they pick. And then sometimes on my busiest weeks, I can reach out to a supporter and say, any chance you want to donate Popeye's this week? So we make it work. We make it work.

NINA MOINI: Sure. Torey, I'm curious, when you started going to Homework Club, did you meet other students that you wouldn't maybe typically know or hang out with? Has it expanded your social circle, and how?

TOREY RIDDLESPRIGER: Yeah, it has expanded my social circle because there's people there that I wouldn't have talked to if they didn't go. And I'm not really a social person, but that forced me to get out of my circle and talk to more people.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, Heather, what do you see when-- are students making new connections? And how does that happen?

HEATHER ANDERSON: I think one of the things that we know about schools, especially public schools, especially urban public schools, is that we're facing things that our country hasn't done well with. And so we work on a lot of those things together. The only rule I have in Homework Club is they have to be kind to each other. And other than that, really as things come up, as frustrations happen, we work on it together.

But my favorite moments are when I see one of them saying, oh, yeah, I have the notes for that. Or, no, that's not how that teacher wants you to write it. She wants you to write it like this.

When they start helping each other and risking that, like asking for help from each other, that's community. And that part surprised me. I didn't necessarily know that that was key, but it's something that the kids say they value over and over again.

NINA MOINI: Torey, I'm curious, what is maybe your favorite part of the Homework Club? What's been the best or most helpful thing that's come out of it for you individually?

TOREY RIDDLESPRIGER: The best thing, other than the food, is just the community. It feels as if we're a big family. And that's what I like.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and, Heather, as it continues to grow, I'm curious how you're able to sustain it. Like, what if it got up to 100 students? What is in the future for this club?

HEATHER ANDERSON: I don't know. I mean, I think sometimes what happens with education, especially with students that we have underserved as a community, we tend to always look for what's the next thing. What I know is going to be true is that I'm going to continue to believe in the children.

So when they walk in the door, I'm going to give them a hug. I'm going to ask them how their day was. And I'm going to tell them that I think they're great.

I think the biggest thing that-- if I were to say, what is the goal of Homework Club, I really want to impact the way students see themselves, because even the crankiest, most eye-rolling, most sleeping teenager really does deeply worry about their grades, even if-- you know what I mean? And so my goal is always to give them just enough success and belonging and to highlight their assets for them enough so that they are ready to tackle the next thing.

And so sometimes we do contests, and we do fake interviews, whatever it takes to get them going to open that Chromebook and start that assignment. And then I love to walk around and tell them how amazing they are.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and along those lines, how can people help, because my understanding is the program is not from the school necessarily? How can people help to support it if it does continue to grow?

HEATHER ANDERSON: Yeah, so it cost me about $250 to $300 every week for food. And I love it to be beautiful food. So certainly, a family or a person could donate.

We do have the legendary Miss Heather cupcakes. I bring my cupcakes almost every week. And so it costs me about $25 a week to do cupcakes.

And then, of course, there is the bigger thing, which is supporting the work of our coalition on a long-term basis. Our coalition really does like to think about education in Minneapolis Public Schools from the perspective of getting closer to the problem and then thinking about the policy versus only thinking about the policy. And so, in supporting our work and the unique way that our coalition moves in relationship with Minneapolis Public Schools would also be amazing. And I would sleep much better at night.

[LAUGHTER]

NINA MOINI: Well, Heather and Torey, I really appreciate you both coming on and telling us about this. It seems like a really wonderful place. And I wish you all the best.

HEATHER ANDERSON: Oh, thanks so much for having us.

NINA MOINI: Thank you.

TOREY RIDDLESPRIGER: Thank you.

NINA MOINI: Take care, Torey. That was Heather Anderson, the organizer of the Homework Club at Washburn High School, and Torey Riddlespriger, a junior at Washburn.