CHAT

Wednesday at CHAT is known as Wacky Wednesday because of the diversity  of activities offered on that day.  Students attending after school tutoring have the opportunity to participate in a plethora of life skills classes including but not limited to Dance, Art, Hip-Hop Poetry, Cooking, Guitar, Photography, Woodworking, Outdoors Club, and Sewing.  We offer these classes as another opportunity for youth to develop interest in life-enhancing skills.  Students sign up for life skills classes at tutoring and are able to choose classes based upon their personal interest.

• When and where do these classes take place? – These classes take place at various times and locations throughout the Church Hill neighborhood but all on Wednesday’s after school.  
  • Cooking classes take place in community members homes during dinner time hours and conclude with students sitting down to eat what they prepared during class.
  • Nehemiah’s Workshop is our woodworking class which runs from 6 – 8 PM and is located in a garage located at 2708 E Marshall St.
  • Sewing takes place in the Lighthouse basement and runs from 3 – 5 PM.
  • Outdoor Club is run in partnership with the Blue Sky Fund and takes place from 3 – 5 PM at various parks throughout Richmond City.
  • Dance takes place from 4 to 5:30 PM at the Robinson Theatre located at 2903 Q St.
  • Art and Hip-Hop Poetry takes place at the Lighthouse from 4 to 5:30 PM and Guitar takes place in a community member’s home from 6 to 7:30 PM.
  • We are not limited to offering only the classes mentioned above, but look to our staff and community partners to help offer and lead more classes.  Other classes from the past include Chess and Photography.
  • Who leads the classes? – A member of the CHAT staff or a committed community partner oversees every life skills class being offered.  We are in need of additional volunteer support to assist in all of our classes.  Similar to tutoring, it is our goal to have a one volunteer for every student participant.
  • Schedule for Life Skills Classes – The classes follow a similar schedule to the tutoring calendar with different sessions of classes being offered for our fall, spring, and summer semesters.  Within each semester we will have six or seven week sessions with two rotations per semester for both the fall and spring semester.  Students will sign-up for a class and complete at least six or seven consecutive weeks of participating in a class.