"Students at LeTort Elementary School are lining up to enroll in a new tutoring program before and after school. One would hardly expect children to beg for a chance to take math quizzes in the mornings or write paragraphs in the afternoon, but that's exactly what's happening thanks to the Technology Academy. The program kicked off in early October with 37 students participating, each flagged for needing to improve in math or writing and reading.

"Second- and third-graders meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; fourth- and fifth-graders meet on Thursdays and Fridays. Most students are enrolled in both the 30-minute morning and 60-minute afternoon programs. ‘Kids who can barely complete an assignment on paper are coming in and completing 120 questions in the mornings,’ Musser says. ‘I never could have imagined these students sitting for 30 minutes to do 12 pages of 10 problems.’"

"Pausing during a math quiz, fourth-grader Judie Lloyd says, ‘I like this. It's a lot more fun’ than the usual math assignment. ‘I didn't know the 11 times tables or the 12s’ before, but now she can recite them from memory. Another classmate, Austin Bourniski, says the academy has helped him brush up on math facts, too. ‘I used to forget 12 times 9,’ he notes. ‘I used to put 94, but now I know it's 108.’

"Already, Musser says, ‘teachers have noticed certain students are more attentive and answer questions faster.’ … Scott Ramsey, a fourth-grade teacher who oversees some of the sessions, says kids can't get enough of the academy. ‘I find some of them waiting in line to get in the morning,’ he says. ‘They have been asking me to start early so they can get more coupons.’

"One boy told the teacher he wakes up at 7 a.m. and would like to meet him at the school to start the academy then, but Ramsey had to turn him down. Musser laughingly recalls another student who confronted two teachers, insisting he should be in the program, and finally went to Musser's office to repeat his demand. She finally let him in, deciding any child who was so determined deserved to be in the academy."