Friday marks the last day of school for students at the West Buffalo Charter School. But throughout the school year, The Sierra Leone Cultural Alliance of Western New York runs an afterschool program. WBFO's senior reporter Eileen Buckley recently visited students as they spent their late afternoon completing homework and playing 'learning' games.
It is the end of the school day students’ rush out of their school as parents arrive for dismissal. But 12-students gather in a lower level of the building on Lafayette Avenue for their afterschool session.
Some of the students at West Buffalo Charter come from all over the world, speaking about 17-different languages.
The afterschool students are 2nd and 3rd graders who are full of enthusiasm as teacher Emmanuel Johnson leads them through an afterschool activities.
The Sierra Leone Cultural Alliance of Western New York is working to improve the lives for refugees and their children who are resettling in Buffalo.
Many of the board members are refugees and now they try to find ways as citizens to help newly arriving refugees. The organization is working to promote education.
"We have to give back because American give a great deal to us, from Sierra Leone where there are wars, terrible people are dying and American gives us a second chance and I have to give back,” said Pastor Joshua Mansaray, President and Founder of the organization.
Last year Mansaray reached out to the city telling Mayor Byron Brown they wanted to sponsor a school. The organization pays for the cost of this program that’s now in its first year.
“These kids, they are smart. They come from Malaysia, from African and all these other places. They’ve been through a lot and if we show them love, we exercise patience, and we take the time for them, it be a great deal in the city of Buffalo,” Mansaray explained.
Mansaray said especially important to help to become productive young adults so they will consider staying in Buffalo in the future.
“It brought me to tears and I witnessed the program when I spoke to the kids,” said Mansaray. “It makes me smile, one of the kids said ‘I’m going to be a lawyer’. And after I spoke to them I came back to the parents, one of the student’s mother told me ‘you don’t know what you have done to us – that one hour break meant a lot to us’ and she was smiling and that gives tears and I said you know what – we’ve got to keep going."
Students first complete their homework in this afterschool program. Then they play games that to enhance their learning.
“I like to learn about writing and to read,” said Juwadewa, a 3rd grader from Thailand. She said this program has been 'good' her.
Students use money to learn how to make change.
Credit WBFO News photo by Eileen Buckley
Teacher Johnson hands out money to students to teach them how to make change.
“We’re learning about money,” said one student as they began the learning exercise.
“We do poetry, we do spelling, we do dictations, we do oral speaking, we do comprehension,” said Johnson.
The biggest struggle for students when they arrived at the start of the school year was speaking and communicating, but that's all changed as the school year closes out.
“As time goes on, they kind of progress because I started from using phonetic sound, so now they can be speaking more easily speaking fluently without having much mistakes that they did in the past,” Johnson remarked.
“Math and ELA,” said Omaymar Bee, a 2nd grader born in Burmese.
“What are you learning today,?” asked Buckley. “About money and I got some money right here in my hands, and someone’s going to buy the pencil,” replied Bee.
Johnson offers students competitive work. He teaches responsibility and accountability skills they will need as young adults.
"Nobody knows better than the kids, so we’ve got to teach them what life is all about, what kind of life they are going to experience when they grow older. What to expect and know when the get bigger," noted Johnson.
Last year the organization spent over $1,000 to operate the program. It's now looking to expand to other city schools to continue reaching diverse populations.
