Homework Helpers employs college students to offer free mentoring and tutoring to San Antonio’s school children. We have been the only source of homework help for many students who have attended our program.  Open to all, we are dedicated to offering San Antonio's students the personal and interpersonal skills they need to succeed in school, plan for college and set career goals. By mentoring as well as tutoring, Homework Helpers can guide students along the path to graduation, college, and professional life, providing the resources necessary to meet the academic and life challenges ahead of them.

In our program, tutors from local universities commit to a year of tutoring and mentoring middle and high school students. Our tutors offer help with homework, critical thinking skills and organization. In addition, they become mentors, building a constructive rapport through which students gain a reliable ally who will offer positive values and a pattern of setting and achieving goals.

Tutors and students work together for two hours after school each day in the school’s classrooms, libraries or cafeterias. In the past, Papa John’s Pizza has donated pizza every day as an incentive for students to work hard and stay on task.

Our program has been able to offer free assistance to many middle and high school students through private funding.  Now as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, we are seeking additional funding to continue and expand.

San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger convened a Summit on education June 18, 2006, where he decried the state of education in the city. Speaking to business leaders and educators, the mayor issued a call to action, saying, “Accepting the status quo no longer means leaving things as they are—no—it means education in San Antonio will only get worse.” 

As of now, San Antonio leads the state in high school and college dropout rates as well as illiteracy. At the education summit former Mayor Howard Peak announced, “27% of San Antonians are at least functionally if not completely illiterate.” Without action, these statistics will become worse. In the San Antonio School District 90% of students come from economically disadvantaged households and only 53% pass all TAKS tests. Employers in San Antonio complain that the workforce pool does not provide enough adequately prepared workers; they see many workers who lack critical thinking skills as well as basic math and basic reading skills.

At the same time, San Antonio is experiencing an economic upturn. More businesses are moving to San Antonio, drawn by the quality of life, low cost of living and lack of economic regulation. However, as the Mayor and many business leaders have highlighted, this growth cannot be sustained if so many San Antonians are not adequately educated.

To address these issues, the summit leaders drafted an agenda for the city. They called for more rigorous academic standards and more individualized attention for students as they rise to those standards. They called for creating a college-going culture in which college is part of the plan from a very early age. And they called for funding for programs that help kids through the hurdles that might lead to dropping out or disengaging from school.

Homework Helpers began its work in January, 2002, at Alamo Heights Jr. School. In order to provide individualized tutoring and mentoring, we created a free, after-school program welcoming kids who wanted extra help. Starting with two students, attendance grew to as many as 60 children.  Students from Trinity University were hired to tutor in all subjects and were also asked to serve as mentors and role models for the middle school students.

We ran our program on location at Alamo Heights Jr. School, where tutors and students worked together for two hours after school. Papa John’s Pizza of San Antonio donated pizza for the kids at the end of each day.

After a year and a half at Alamo Heights, it was clear that Homework Helpers was fulfilling a great need. Students attended voluntarily and demonstrated an eagerness to learn from their tutors. As tutors taught critical thinking skills, study habits and organization skills, students saw their grades improve and learned to view school as an opportunity rather than an obligation.

As mentors, our tutors were able to help channel this new scholastic and productive energy towards positive ends. Tutors helped students set goals for the future, showing them a path to college and careers. In addition to academic learning, students also began to develop the skills necessary to act as respectful and responsible adults. They increasingly emulated our tutors’ work ethic, consistency, respectfulness, concern for others, and ethical decision making.