It Beats TV to Heck

School’s out for the day at El Sereno Middle School, but classroom doors are wide open and voices carry through the long corridors.

In one room, a dozen students hunch earnestly over broad white canvases, pastels in hand. On the lawn, a group of children cast fishing poles across the patchy green grass. A basketball game heats up in the gym. And the sound of mariachi music, albeit hesitant at times, floats across the sprawling campus.

These activities are from some of 20 free after-school clubs available to El Sereno students since a pilot project was launched on the campus last month. Funded by a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the program is designed to bring engaging activities to children near HUD-run housing.

The after-school program is an extension of the national Drug Abuse Resistance Education project, or DARE, and is called DARE PLUS (Play and Learn Under Supervision).

Many of the school’s 2,300 students are bused from the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights to El Sereno, one of six campuses in the nation testing the after-school project for 15 months.

Coordinators say the community-driven project plugs kids into absorbing and fun activities, offering them an alternative to hanging out in empty houses or on street corners.

At El Sereno, the demand is great. About 300 students immediately filled clubs such as oldies-but-goodies dance, ecological restoration and chess that are offered throughout the week.

“If I had the budget, I’d have three times as many classes,’ said DARE PLUS administrator Kathleen Barry, who surveyed the school to find out what clubs would interest students. “The kids really want to be doing something.”

On a recent warm afternoon, the dance class picked up the beat as the wildlife club across campus discussed local ecosystems.

In a colorful art studio in one of the far-flung bungalows, sixth-grader Geneva Burleigh smoothed translucent pastels together to create the image of a shimmery vase. She said she eagerly anticipated her weekly art class.

“It’s someplace for me to go,” said the quiet 12-year-old. “It takes up my time. Otherwise, I’d be sitting at home watching TV or something.”

At the front of the classroom, teacher Lou Calanche offered tips to her group of focused young artists. “Use a dark color down here--that shows the bottom of the vase,” said Calanche, a field deputy for Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre.

Like many of the volunteers, Calanche is a local community member who teaches a workshop in her spare time. She isn’t a professional artist, but she studied the subject in college. And when she had the chance to volunteer at El Sereno she didn’t hesitate. She attended school there, and now her younger sister goes to El Sereno and is taking Calanche’s art class.

Earlier in the year, Barry spent months visiting community meetings to promote the program and ask for help. Little by little, she rounded up an eclectic group of 20 volunteers to lead the clubs, including the leader of a local mariachi band, a Los Angeles police officer, a hairdresser and two staffers from Alatorre’s office.

The program, they say, allows them to feel connected to the children in the community.

“I deal with kids so often on patrol . . . tagging the walls, doing gang activity,” said Los Angeles Police Officer Danny Roman, who teaches a model-building class on Fridays. “You get into a mode where that’s all you see. At first I was hesitant [about volunteering] because most [students] don’t like the police, but it’s great. I get such pleasure from seeing them do something they love. They’re great kids.”

By day, Ernie Delgado teaches history at El Sereno. But Wednesday afternoons, he hauls out his fishing gear for an eager group of aspiring anglers, teaching them about knots, casting and various saltwater fish.

Later in the year, his group will take fishing trips to Long Beach and Catalina Island.

“Now watch what I do,” he calls to a group of youngsters gathered on the campus’ grass quad. “You want to put your finger down, then snap it and release.”

Kim Do, 14, executes a perfect cast with Delgado’s instruction, then turns to help her friend, who is struggling to get the line to reel out. “This is fun,” said Kim, who also takes an art class and learns about makeup and hair in the girls club. “Otherwise I’d be home doing nothing.”

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Others students echo her sentiment.

“I just hang out and watch TV when I go home, as opposed to coming out here and learning about fishing,” said Daniel Apodaca, 11. “It’s one of the best parts of my day.”

Trumpets blare from a room next to the grass quad. Inside, Irineo Yanez is teaching aspiring mariachi players the nuances of a song.

With red puckered faces, Gabriel Meza and John Vargas squeeze their eyes and blow into their trumpets.

“Just think about going up, going down,” Yanez advises. “Just think about the notes.”

They try again, the violinists giggling at their efforts. “I’ve always liked helping kids,” Yanez said.

In this class, like others, the students are absorbed in their task--so focused that their dedication surprises the program’s staff. “It’s as if when they walk in the room, a spell falls over them,” Barry said. “You know when you’ve got that, you’ve got something that’s working.”