HOLLAND -- The Children's After School Achievement
(CASA) Program at Hope College has received support through
grants from two local community organizations to expand its
work with elementary-age children.

The Youth Advisory Committee of The Community
Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area has awarded CASA
$6,500 for the "Math Multiplies Your Options" program. The
Holland Junior Welfare League has awarded CASA $1,580 for
the "Homework K.I.T.S. (Key Ingredients to Success)"
program.

Through "Math Multiplies Your Options," CASA will
enhance its emphasis on helping the elementary students
better understand mathematics. The program will seek to
help link mathematics and everyday life, provide the
students with creative ways to express their own
mathematical discoveries, and add a mathematician-in-
residence to CASA's team of instructors and tutors. The
program will begin with CASA's summer session this June and
continue through the next school year.

The "Homework K.I.T.S." program will provide
reference materials and other school-related supplies to
each of CASA's students at the start of the next school
year. Every child will receive a Garfield dictionary, and
those from Spanish-speaking families will also receive a
Spanish-English dictionary.

CASA runs year-round, providing substance abuse
prevention, cultural awareness, academic and career
experiences to at-risk first- through fifth-grade students.
The program is intended to improve the students' academic
performance and help them develop healthy, productive
lifestyles. CASA's students meet after school twice per
week for two hours per session throughout the school year,
and in the mornings during the six-week summer session.

Approximately 100 students participate during the
school-year session, and 90 during the summer. Volunteers
including Hope students and members of the community serve
as tutors with the program.

Established by Marge Rivera in 1987, CASA was
originally administered by Latin Americans United for
Progress (LAUP) and housed at First United Methodist Church.
The program moved to the college in 1989, and is housed on
the ground level of Graves Hall. CASA also receives support
from the Greater Holland United Way, a City of Holland Block
Grant, and a variety of area organizations and businesses.

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