On an average Friday afternoon in the Duquesne City School District, students are learning more than reading and arithmetic.

	Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette Melanie McCutcheon, a ninth-grader at Duquesne High School, learns about the proper use of forks during an etiquette luncheon at Federal Home Loan Bank in Pittsburgh. Students from Duquesne wore business attire and were instructed in the manners required in business situations. Click photo for larger image.

They might be learning corporate etiquette at a business luncheon downtown. They could be shadowing professionals on the job or preparing for college interviews.

Or they're in class, learning from grandparents who are re-enforcing reading and math skills or grading tests. They might be meeting with community members to talk about health and social issues.

They might even be playing Scrabble, using the week's spelling words.

With the help of America's Promise, a federally funded, national youth volunteer initiative, Friday is the district's day to really bustle, with enrichment programs operating in and out of the school building.

The America's Promise program has been operating in the district for more than a year, but the Friday afternoon sessions were instituted this year.

Stefan Biancanello, director of curriculum and instruction, said the program was designed to bring education full circle.

"The volunteers are in the school, helping the teachers and students while seeing firsthand what is being accomplished in the district.

"The students and teachers are seeing that the community cares. This program works on all sides. We have organizations and residents joining in to help or offer their expertise to teach our children. It is wonderful to see this program in action," he said.

Holly McGraw, director of the Community Outreach Partnership Center, a project of Robert Morris University and Allegheny County's Promise, the name of the local America's Promise program, said the Duquesne project was tailored to fit the needs of students.

The outreach center has received more than $300,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Duquesne project. The grants have to be secured by universities for use in distressed communities or school districts, McGraw said.

This week, McGraw, a Duquesne teacher, and nine high-schoolers also will travel to Washington, D.C., to explore careers.

Angelo Reynolds, 15, a sophomore, said the enrichment programs had helped him decide what he wants to do after high school. College-bound, Reynolds wants to become a massage therapist. Listening to others in the work force cemented his decision, he said.

Reynolds recently attended a business etiquette luncheon downtown, sponsored by the Federal Home Loan Bank, and learned skills not usually seen in the school cafeteria.

"It was more than just learning which fork and spoon to use. We learned how to dress in the business world and how to treat a lady when she enters a room. We stand before she sits. You don't think about those things, but they are useful in the business world," he said.

Chanelle Harris, 16 and also a sophomore, said she had been determined to go to college since kindergarten. But she learned through a job shadowing at State Farm Insurance Co. at Southpointe, in Cecil, that she would not want to work in the field of medical claims because she doesn't like to see people hurt.

McGraw said the varied aspects of the program allowed students to try many things.

A simulated computer college application contest/game has students who weren't sure about college or thought it wasn't an option discovering that it is.

They are taught how to fill out financial aid applications and admission forms, and to write an essay and interview for college. "This gives students a chance to see that it is possible," McGraw said.

Volunteer Lina Washington, of Duquesne, comes each Friday to help re-enforce skills with elementary pupils or to help teachers with extra work.

"I've seen students improve their grades. We had one student who went from getting a zero on his work to a hundred percent.

"It is amazing to be part of this learning process. If I help one child, I've made a difference," she said.