Kathryn Thompson works with student Janiya in the ML2 after-school program at Thomas Rolfe Court Community Center in Hopewell. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Kathryn Thompson waits, shivering, on a silent street corner in Hopewell’s Thomas Rolfe Court. Silent, that is, until the school bus pulls up and discharges more than a dozen elementary-aged kids.
“Miss Kathryn! Miss Kathryn!”
They collide with her like tiny comets. They pour out the drama of their day — the mean substitute teacher, the promise of snow.
“You come with me, OK?” Thompson says. “Lily, stop crying. Where’s your coat?”
She shepherds them along the sidewalk to the Thomas Rolfe community center. It’s not much to look at: a squat brick building from the early 1960s, with broken blinds and a stained linoleum floor. But Thompson, with her staff and volunteers, has transformed it into a haven.
In a cheerful cacophony of shouts and laughter, kids do their homework and their reading with the help of volunteer mentors. Others grab a Chromebook to play math games.
Aaniah, a fifth-grader, uses a graphic design app called Adobe Spark to make a short presentation, complete with outer-space backgrounds. “Welcome to ML2 … Have fun learning and having help with your homework,” it says. “We are excited to have a place like this, thanks to ms katheren.” A radiant smile appears on Aaniah’s face when Thompson praises her work.
ML2 students Jakeil, Jahvier and Ni’Laysiah practice math skills on an education website. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Thompson, a native of West Virginia, came here six years ago to work as Resident Services Manager for the Hopewell Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Almost immediately, one great need became apparent: after-school programs for children. The average household income in Hopewell’s public housing is around $15,000, Thompson explains. Working parents don’t have the resources for childcare; when kids step off the bus, they often go to a relative’s or neighbor’s house and are left to their own devices.
In 2015, Thompson and Steven Benham, executive director of the authority, started ML2, an after-school program for elementary-age kids at Thomas Rolfe that’s focused on math, literacy and leadership. Anticipating cuts in federal funding, Benham obtained grants from the Virginia Housing Development Authority and The Cameron Foundation to transfer the program to a new nonprofit called STORY, Southside Transformation Opportunities for Residents and Youth.
STORY launched with an ambitious mission: not just helping kids with homework, but helping to rewrite the story of generational poverty that is told and retold in so many Hopewell families. Benham asked Thompson to be the co-founder and executive director.
Against her better judgment, she accepted. She had never worked with children. And if she couldn’t secure more financial support, the program would die.
Even as she worked to launch STORY, “I wanted to run,” Thompson admits. She applied for jobs in Maryland and Montana, far from the streets of Thomas Rolfe.
Then she had a conversation with a minister, who told her, “I know you don’t want to stay in Hopewell. But if you could just yield to God’s will for your life, you have no idea of the changes you’re going to make.”
Thompson yielded. And the program thrived. Around 45 children are registered in ML2, with 25-30 coming regularly. “We have been able to see that there’s been improvement in grades, improvement in reading ability and, we think, a real improvement in citizenship,” Benham says.
Program Assistant David Thompson works with ML2 student Dayvion. (Photo by Jay Paul)
In the fall, STORY plans to expand the program to a second public housing community, Piper Square. If she can get funding, Thompson hopes to add science, technology and cultural arts to the curriculum, as well as a healthy eating and fitness program.
Last year, Thompson and her team took the children to see a production of the musical “In the Heights” at Virginia Rep, followed by Bottoms Up Pizza. It was nothing like Little Caesar’s, the kids discovered, to their delight. “Miss Kathryn, you’re very fancy,” one told her earnestly.
Despite her efforts to show the kids wider horizons, it’s tough to escape Hopewell’s dangers. On February 15, shots rang out as Thompson collected the children from their bus stop. She told them to run. She ran herself. They made it to the safety of the community center, where, after the dust settled, a visiting art instructor helped the kids make paper airplanes. Thompson, profoundly shaken, remembers looking at the children and wondering, “How are you functioning as normal?”
All she can do is keep cheering them on, and pushing them harder. “I think they need people to believe in them and see their potential, maybe outside of their families, maybe outside of their communities,” she says.
Sometimes children proudly show her a C on their report card. Thompson tells them they can do better. “A C is good — but not in here,” she says.
When Dayvion kept telling her he lost his homework. Thompson wouldn’t buy it. “Cough up the homework,” she told him. Then he scored in the 90th percentile for math when he took an online assessment. “Boy!” she said. “You’ve been tricking me the whole year.”
When Jahvier, for the first time, completed all his homework for the week, Thompson was thrilled. “He needs to be celebrated,” she told his mom.
Hiring additional staff has allowed Thompson to get an occasional respite from hands-on work with the children — which is not okay with them. One afternoon last week, she arrived two hours late. All the kids ran to her car and waited for her to get out.
“You’re late! Where have you been?” they clamored.
“OK,” she told them. “I’m here now.”
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