It's a long way from a tent in a Turkish refugee camp to Bremerton, Washington. But 17-year old Ferhan has traveled that far and more.

"I was nine years old, and I had only about three months of school when we came here," Ferhan says. "I didn't know any English - I didn't even know how to say 'hi.'"

This year, Ferhan graduates from high school with honors, and will enter Olympic College in the fall. He plans to become a doctor.

Ferhan gives the national award-winning KCCHA Study Central program a lot of the credit for his success.

Study Central, funded through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, offers after-school tutorial help to lowincome kids with their schoolwork - and life. Many of these kids come from single-parent homes, where mom or dad often work two jobs, and don't get home in time to share a snack, hear about the day and look over a tough math problem. Teen and adult volunteers at the Bremerton and Olympic High School Study Centrals are there to help fill the gap. Program staff track the kids' test scores, intervene if a child has special problems and often act as a liaison with the school district.

"If I hadn't gone there, I don't how much I could have accomplished," he says. "They helped me adapt to the American culture, taught me how to get the help I needed at school, and helped me with my English. I would write each essay two to three times, and each time, they would correct my spelling, and explain why I should put a comma here, or why a sentence didn't make sense.

"In school, other kids would laugh at my English so I wouldn't talk much. Here, I could say whatever was on my mind, and they would correct me without making me feel bad."

This is an Equal Opportunity Program.
Discrimination is prohibited by Federal Law.
Complaints of discrimination may be filed with the Administrator, RHCDS, USDA, Washington, DC 20250-0700