By Chris Levister

School is out. While most teens are preparing to chill out and enjoy the summer heat San Bernardino High School seniors Denzel and Lawyer Paige are gearing up for their second favorite pastime: Helping kids excel in the San Bernardino school's CAPS (Creative After-School Programs for Success).

"We'd rather be hanging out with our friends, but we like kids, Denzel and Lawyer said in unison. "They're fun."

San Bernardino High School twins (l-r) Lawyer and Denzel Paige will spend their summer tutoring elementary school students at city after-school program sites.

While the importance of after school programs has gained considerable attention over the past decade, more and more educational experts consider the summer an even greater opportunity to help children excel academically and socially.

"There's less pressure. Kids learn to read at a slower pace," says Denzel 17. "When kids see that they can increase their math, language and reading scores in a short amount of time, they feel special, and they began taking school more seriously."  

Lawyer and Denzel say growing up summer youth education was an essential pathway to achieving proficiency in core academic skills. "If kids only focus on testing and are not given time to develop good skills they lose interest in school. If they lose interest they drop out," said Lawyer.

The main objectives of CAPS are improving reading, language and math proficiency, while providing three hours of supervised activities each day. The Paige brothers tutor students at Wilson Elementary School.

High school students undergo weeks of training before being assigned to schools throughout the district. The teen tutors take their tasks seriously, right down to, "how we speak, dress and how we help kids develop social skills." said Lawyer.

"Kids are off the streets and less likely to be getting into trouble and using alcohol or drugs," said Denzel. 

In fact on any given school day, between 7 million and 15 million "latchkey children" nationwide return to an empty house according to U.S. Census Bureau reports. Juvenile crime triples after 3 p.m., and youths who do not participate in after-school programs are at greatest risk of drug and alcohol abuse, gang involvement, poor academic performance and dropping out of school.

Studies demonstrate that while all children are pressed to attain proficiency during the school year, children from low income families often fall behind and lose the equivalent of three months' literacy skills and two months' math skills during the summer due to a lack of educational opportunities available to them. At the same time, children from more affluent families actually gain one and a half months from the opportunities that are not only available but encouraged.

These summer losses researchers say, compounded each year, are a major reason why the achievement gap between low income and high income children grows throughout the elementary school years.

Lawyer and Denzel say cross age tutoring allows older students to relate to the younger children in a way that the adults can't and since they live in the same community as their tutees, they can reach out to them beyond the classroom.

Key findings from the U.S. Department of Education show the percentage of parents who believe after-school programs significantly help their child's education is high regardless of race and income. 85% of the parents surveyed say after-school funding should not be cut, even in tight fiscal times. Local educators agree, on going violence in San Bernardino's low income communities underscores the importance of providing children with a safe and supportive learning environment during the summer.

"A lot of kids don't want to leave when its time to go home," says Lawyer. "Once they see the benefits of small group learning they get excited."

"The first thing we try to do is help kids feel safe," says Denzel. We give them snacks, we talk about how to behave and we encourage them to stay in school. They actually listen to us," said Lawyer.

"My kids really love the CAPS program," said Esther a single parent and nurse whose two children attend the Wilson summer after school program.

Esther says last year her sons were reading below grade level. "I was stunned by the improvement. I know my kids are in a safe place and they are developing good skills.  When my littlest one had a fever of 102 he still insisted on going to class. When I told him no way, he threw a temper tantrum. Go figure."