After-the-Bell Student Centers


Brooklyn Branch (L) and Brooke Hamblin (R),
both Bixby second graders,
practice their keyboarding lessons
on computer equipment donated to
After-the-Bell Student Centers by Helping Tulsa.
Click to enlarge picture
After-the-Bell Student Centers (ATB), located at 7 E. Dawes in Downtown Bixby, will have their grand opening on August 14, 2002, the beginning of Bixby's next school term. ATB is a center that offers quality academic, recreational and social programs for students of all ages. The daily after school program hours are 2:30-6:30 pm and is designed to help parents have more quality family time, by providing productive, safe and affordable activities for children after school, before parents get off work. ATB's after school program provides homework assistants, tutoring, a computer lab with helpers, keyboarding and software lessons, crafts, and positive social time with friends Monday through Friday. They also offer discounted weekly recreational programs and special Friday night events.

ATB is a non-profit organization that also offers students help with SAT preparation, financial aid and career counseling, computer training and weekly recreational programs such as martial arts, dance, guitar, tumbling and jazzercise.

ATB has Shuttle Pick-Up from Local Schools (2:30 & 3:30), and provides programs where the parent picks up the student at 4:30, 5:30, 6:00, or 6:30. They also have summer programs and weekly special programs in Digital Photography, Group Guitar, TaeKwan-Do, Junior and Adult Jazzercise, Tumbling, Cheer, Arts and Dance, etc.


Click to enlarge picture
HelpingTulsa is exploring providing computer labs to churches, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas, if the church would be willing to put them in a Sunday School Classroom and provide the necessary volunteer supervision to keep the room open after school, so that children in the neighborhood who did not have computers at home could use the computers for homework assignments, accessing the internet, etc. Setting up such a computer lab is not difficult. As you can tell from these pictures, After-the-Bell used a door and painted blocks for a desk top, and had room for 3 workstations on it.

HelpingTulsa is also interested in working with other non-profit organizations, such as YMCA, that also offer after school programs for children. Children represent our future, and we should do everything we can to help all of them get a good start in life. As Jesus said ( Mark 9:37) "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." and ( Matthew 25:45) "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

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