Reaching Beyond the Classroom

Moise said the class was well received. "I definitely want to reintroduce spoken word," she said.

The enrichment program doesn't require teachers to be certified in education because they are not teaching core-content classes, although a few years of experience in the relevant field is preferred, Moise said.

Other courses have included law, culinary arts, sports management and journalism.

Bacon applauded the program for allowing community members to teach and said he enjoyed the class.

"I think a lot of other schools miss out on some good teachers as a result of not having this sort of program," he said. "I'm definitely thinking about going back."

The selection process includes an interview, a background check and an orientation. In the week before the enrichment classes begin, the selected teachers visit classrooms to advertise their courses. Students rank their top three choices and are assigned to a class. They have one week to transfer from the class they were assigned. Teachers are paid $40 per class.

School administrators say the biggest challenge for most teachers in the enrichment program is managing the classroom.

"Some classes just don't work," Domenici said. "You have someone who really thinks they want to work with teens, and for some reason their class totally flops." He said some people might not have the temperament to deal with teens.

In designing the Maya Angelou schools' curricula, Domenici and Foreman said they hoped to keep students engaged during the after-school hours, which is when statistics show that crime is most prevalent among teens. They added the enrichment period, a dinner break and a tutoring period to the schedule, adjourning classes at 7:15 p.m.

Moise said she will spend much of the summer recruiting people to teach in the program. There is a demand for classes about African American heritage, automotive education and physical fitness.

This year's schedule might include classes on film, African drumming and computer fundamentals, she said.

To learn more about the enrichment program, visitwww.seeforever.org.