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Programs Offer Love And Hope, And FCAT Help

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 11, 2009

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - The Love and Hope Foundation has started two after-school programs at elementary schools and hopes to expand them next year.

Children can attend after-school activities three days a week at Alexander Elementary and twice a week at Town and Country Elementary, said Ramon Martinez, the foundation's executive director. The programs started in January to help prepare students for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Students have access to their schools' media centers and computer labs and can work on FCAT preparation online and with academic software. Many of them do not have computers at home, Martinez said. They also can receive tutoring or homework help.

More than 50 children attend Town and Country's sessions, which meet Mondays and Wednesdays. Alexander has more than 40 participants. They meet Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Both schools have waiting lists.

Love and Hope, a nonprofit organization that holds annual school supply drives for needy children, worked with the school principals and Manuel Duran, the former principal at Alexander Elementary who now teaches at Argosy University. The foundation is calling the after-school programs "No Tiger Left Behind" because Alexander and Town and Country both have tigers as their mascots.

Courtney Cairns Pastor

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