Students Have a Blast at Learning Center

Jeffrey Quintana and Christopher Avalos dumped baking soda, detergent, vinegar and red food coloring into the crater of a foot-tall, dormant volcano made of brown mud. Their goal, a blazing eruption, was part of a summer project.

“We need more water,” announced Christopher, a 7-year-old from Sylmar.

As the volcano spewed “lava,” Sister Carmel Somers presented more than 20 of the boys’ classmates parchment certificates marking the end of a summer instructional session at the Valley Family Center on South Brand Boulevard.

“Jeffrey, can you leave the volcano a minute?” Somers asked.

With that, the 8-year-old Sylmar boy walked timidly past assembled parents toward the director of the Learning Center for Children. He smiled as Somers wrapped her arm around his shoulder, handed him a certificate and, as she did with each student, praised his achievements--in Jeffrey’s case, his spelling skills and artistic abilities.

The Valley Family Center handles family counseling primarily, but its Learning Center educates elementary and middle school students who tend to perform poorly in normal classroom settings. Fees are charged on a sliding scale, based on a family’s ability to pay, Somers said.

“An awful lot of these children never get recognition,” she said. “They tend to be compliant. . . . We do everything in our power to recognize them.”

During the academic year, the program meets after school. In the summer, it meets in the morning for six weeks, Somers said. The next session starts in September.

At the culmination ceremony this week, student-drawn pictures of dolphins, birds and monkeys adorned the walls.

Although art is a part of the program, the emphasis--during the academic year--is on completing homework from school, Somers said.

For more information, call (818) 365-8588.