Project Learn reinforces and enhances the skills and knowledge young people learn at school during the hours they spend at the Club. The program is based on Dr. Reginald Clark’s research showing that students do much better in school when they spend their non-school hours engaged in fun, but academically beneficial activities. Through Project Learn, Club staff use all the areas and programs in the Club to create opportunities for these “high-yield learning activities,” which include leisure reading, writing activities, discussions with knowledgeable adults, helping others, homework help and tutoring, and games like Scrabble that develop young people’s cognitive skills. Project Learn also emphasizes parent involvement and collaboration between Club staff and school personnel as critical factors in creating the best after-school learning environment for Club members. Extensively field-tested and formally evaluated by Columbia University with funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Project Learn has been proven to boost the academic performance of Club members.
