St. Edmund’s Learning Center has been enriching the lives of children and young people for a long time -20 years to be exact.

And now, former learners are becoming teachers, who remain students as they learn important lessons about life while they do their part in teaching the next generation.

Typical is Justin Davis, who started coming to the center for help with homework when he was 14. Today, after graduating from high school with honors, he still comes to the center, now to help younger students with their homework, and to have fun learning all year long.

Davis is one of 20 local teens working with children at the Learning Center’s Summer Enrichment program that reaches more than 100 students, ages 5-13. He also works as a tutor in the center’s after-school program during the school year.

“I like working with kids,” said Davis, who begins business classes at Wallace Community College in August. “It teaches you patience, diligence and helps build your character. I think we also give the kids someone to look up to. I enjoy everything about it,” he said.

The Summer Enrichment program, now in its 20th year, offers a variety of educational activities that emphasize learning through games, activities and art that are fun for young learners.

“We know how important it is for children to keep up their educational skills during the summer, so we offer activities that build on those while also letting students be creative and expressive,” said sister Norma Bourdon, D.H.S., the center’s director. “I always like to say they are doing their three R’s, but don’t know it,” she said.

Both teachers, the youth, and learners, the children, are learning through their work together. The teen workers get regular paychecks while they learn job skills and tutoring techniques. The children learn educational skills

in a safe, fun environment.

“We are interested in the whole person,” said Sister Norma. “We hire local teenagers to work in the summer program because we want to provide them with a meaningful experience that prepares them for the work world, and reinforces their education skills. They also serve as role models for our younger kids. Their continued education is important to us, because about half of them grew up right here at the center,” she said.

Rophielle Fuller, 18, is another teen worker who “grew up in the center,” beginning in the after-school program when he was 8 years old. “They really helped me with my homework and I got to meet other kids from other skills,” said the high school honor graduate who is a student at Auburn University. “It’s really a great place to be. It feels comfortable here,” he said.

The daily afternoon program includes a variety of activities, including reading, working on computers, crafts, praise dance, educational games, graphic arts, swimming and refreshments. The teen workers are supervised by the center’s teachers and other staff members. They also help keep the center clean and set up activities for the next day.

“The young adults make a great staff and the younger children really enjoy being with them,” Sister Norma said.

Educational trips are a special feature of the summer program. On July 7, 98 children, staff members and parents made the trip to the McWane Science Center in Birmingham.

“It’s a wonderful program with lots of things to do,” said Davis, “but I think the best thing is the field trips. A lot of time kinds don’t have the opportunity to go on trips like this. Our program gives them a chance to see and experience new things,” he said.

The teen workers participating in the enrichment program receive extensive training at the beginning of the summer in the dynamics of working with children,

and are always supervised by trained teachers.

“We believe that preparing our teenagers for the future means giving them meaningful jobs with specific expectations,” Sister Norma said. “We are teaching two groups throughout the summer – the younger children are learning through fun activities and the teens are learning to work responsibly,” she said. “We think this is the best way to build a better community for all of us,” she concluded.

The program is sponsored by the Edmundite Missions and also receives funding from private foundations.