EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State University and a consortium of middle schools have been awarded an $8.2 million federal grant that will pave the way for a major expansion of the innovative after-school program known as KLICK! (Kids Learning in Computer Klubhouses).
KLICK!, created in 1998 with a $2 million federal grant, initially established nine clubhouses in nine urban and rural middle schools ranging from Detroit and Lansing to Cass City and DeTour in the Upper Peninsula. The $8 million grant will allow 11 more middle schools to establish clubhouses and join the expanding network. It is estimated that the program will now serve more than 5,000 Michigan students and more than 6,000 community members.
"This a major step forward for KLICK! and everyone associated with it," said Yong Zhao, assistant professor of educational psychology and director of the project. "We are more than doubling the size of the KLICK! network and making it possible for more students to become engaged in their learning through the use of computers and digital equipment.
"I think the grant is an indication of the impact the project has already had on KLICK! students."
The focus of the program is to provide expanded learning opportunities for participating children in a safe, drug-free and supervised environment. The program allows schools to stay open longer to provide learning opportunities for children and adults through such things as tutoring and homework help, enrichment through the arts and technology education. The KLICK! grant was announced by President Clinton last week.
The three-year, $8.2 million grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's 21st Century Community Learning Centers.
The current KLICK! sites are located at: Armada (Armada Middle School), Baldwin (Baldwin Middle School), Cass City (Cass City Middle School), Detroit (Amelia Earhart Middle School), Jackson (Middle School at Parkside), Kaleva-Norman-Dickson (Kaleva-Norman-Dickson Middle School), Lansing (Dwight Rich Middle School) and Roscommon (Roscommon Middle School).
New clubhouses will be started at: Battle Creek (Springfield Middle School), Bay City (Handy Intermediate School), Bear Lake (Bear Lake Middle School), Clare (Clare Middle School), Custer (Mason County Eastern High School), Detroit (Emma L. Munger Middle School, P.J.M. Hally Magnet Middle School, Clippert Academy), Laingsburg (Laingsburg Middle School), Muskegon (Bunker Middle School) and Watersmeet (Watersmeet Township School).
For more information, please contact Yong Zhao at (517) 353-4325, KLICK! Project Coordinator Blaine Morrow at 355-3520 or Victor Inzunza at 355-1826.