Miranda Babbitt
Assistant LifeStyle Editor

As a freshman at McMaster, there is no shortage of opportunities to get involved. So much so, that Clubs Fest seems akin to choosing a toothbrush. Walking down the aisles upon aisles of choices, each one voices a varying degree of benefit to you. Some are there to tantalize you with flashy features, be it a vibrating button, built-in tongue cleaner, or even a timer that presents to you a smiley face when you’re done brushing. No clubs were offering tongue cleaners this year? They must be off their game. Regardless, they do employ similar eye-catching strategies, like a bowl of sweets in the middle of the table. You timidly take one at first, nearly certain they can see right through your false motivation to join said club, yet while chewing the idea over, you may in fact begin to see yourself as a fencer after all, or a debate champion or even a genius entrepreneur ready to take on the world with one app development at a time.

But there is something very instinctive about which one is right for you. And here is where I veer away from the toothbrush analogy, because sometimes the right club for you doesn’t lie in the maze of eager representatives, but in a pocket of Hamilton much less travelled by your everyday McMaster student: the Dr. Davey Elementary School. Alas, you will not find a toothbrush here, and I cannot speak for its level of hygiene if found on the playground. But you will find an opportunity that could not only change your outlook on learning and empowerment, but the students you are working with too.

The Dr. J. E. Davey Elementary After School Homework Club, with volunteers provided by Frontier College, seeks to aid those in less privileged areas of Hamilton, and thus face increased susceptibility in lagging behind on schoolwork. By providing students with an outlet to find help with their homework, or even to instill motivation to continue with their schooling, Frontier College is essentially working towards bettering an entire generation of Hamilton’s most vulnerable youth.

As an organization that is volunteer-based, much of the success of Frontier College depends on an eager and committed supply of volunteers. Naturally, many of these volunteers hail from the University, and a desire to maintain playing a role in the vision of Frontier College is palpable once hearing the experiences of the volunteers.

Shannon Stevens, Frontier College’s Community Coordinator, has said that she has 50 returning volunteers this year, which evidently “speaks volumes about how much they enjoy their experience.”  My experience as a volunteer there last year says nothing less.

After having joined in the second semester of first year, the first day working with both the children and team of volunteers fulfilled exactly what I was hoping to feel; The impact of my small part in the homework club was tangibly beneficial, as I could look around and see a collection of children who were themselves a source of inspiration. Smiles and laughter were not remiss in this environment, and yet the effort the children put into their work alongside volunteers certainly wasn’t either.

Rachelle Zalter, a second-year Arts & Science student and a volunteer for Frontier College’s Dr. Davey Homework Club, said that volunteering was usually “the highlight of her week,” and that the positivity of the children could bring out the “happy kid” in her too, regardless of the often inevitable stress of university. Jason Woo, a fellow second-year Arts & Science student, mirrors this sentiment. “The children’s happiness is incredibly contagious,” Woo says. “You can be a kid all over again while leaving a huge impact on their own development.”

Frontier College has a variety of programs aside from the Dr. Davey Homework Club, contributing to helping over 300 children and youth in Hamilton. While targeting different age groups and the unique needs of a diverse population, every program has the same goal: enhancing literacy and learning skills to build a foundation for an empowered future.

When it comes to deciding where to offer your time, perhaps it’s time to remember that the little kid in all of us really does want to come out, especially if that little kid has the potential to change the lives of Hamilton’s next generation.

Devra Charney / Silhouette Staff

Mac students have been working off campus and volunteering in a new frontier: North Hamilton.

The Hamilton branch of Frontier College, which promotes reading and literacy in high-need areas of the city, is undergoing plans to start a new homework club program beginning in October 2013.

Community Coordinator Shannon Stevens said that it aims to partner with the Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton in order to reach out to more target areas. Stevens emphasizes the importance of the University to the success of the literacy programs, as the majority of volunteers are McMaster students.

“We’re exploring one program in the community at their Sanford location, and we’re exploring a possible school partnership, but we haven’t decided which school. So it will be similar to our other homework club structures where it’s a registered program, kids come, and we help them with their homework after school.”

Volunteer tutors from Mac are needed from September until late spring, as the Teen Homework Club continues to operate in the Central Public Library in May and June in order to help high school students prepare for final examinations.

Frontier College runs nine programs in Hamilton during the school year, largely aimed at new Canadians and students for whom English is a second language.

Fourth-year Arts and Science student Chetna Mistry is an organizational team leader for the Dr. J. E. Davey Elementary After School Homework Club. She sees the program as necessary for a demographic that would otherwise face difficulties in keeping up with schooling.

“The Dr. Davey program is unique because it serves students in mostly underprivileged communities. We get a lot of refugee immigrant students who are at really low reading levels, and that requires our volunteers to be extra aware of their situations and willing to really help out and be really patient with them.”

Gerry Smith, Principal of Dr. Davey, agrees that the program plays an important role for students and parents as well as for the school system. It fills a need in Hamilton’s downtown district for students whose parents are unable to help them with schoolwork.

“In our school, we have a lot of people who, at home, school wasn’t exactly their thing, or they’re new to Canada and aren’t able to support their kids, so at least for twice a week we have an avenue where kids can go and get the support with the homework they need. And that’s invaluable.”

He added that it gives students who lack the motivation to do their homework the chance to study in a constructive environment where help is readily available. The volunteers are able to provide the one-to-one attention that many of his students need in order to focus on their classwork.

“A lot of these kids don’t do a lot of structure, or you can’t count on them to do homework at home, so it’s an opportunity for them to go somewhere and also just get an extra push with reference to curricular objectives that they wouldn’t if they just went home.”