DATE: Wednesday, May 14, 1997               TAG: 9705140494

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Neighborhood Exchange

SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   58 lines

GETTING A KICK OUT OF HOMEWORK

Okera Means uses kung fu to get children to do their homework.

Not on them - with them.

Means teaches students the Chinese martial art to reward them for doing their assignments.

It's part of a program that Means helps lead at three Suffolk neighborhoods - Parker-Riddick Village, Colander-Bishop Meadows Apartments and Hoffler Apartments.

The program, which began in April, is called CAST, or Comprehensive After-School Tutorial. Most tutors are volunteers from Hampton University, of which Means is a 1996 graduate.

Besides martial arts, CAST lures children to their books with a chance to work on computers. It's also developing lessons in nonviolent conflict resolution and in cultural arts, such as singing, playing drums and pottery.

But children must complete their homework before learning kung fu or doing any of the other fun projects.

Kung fu is more than a reward.

``It instills discipline in them that will carry over to their schoolwork and their daily lives,'' Means said.

``It will help them feel more control over their lives and situations,'' Means said, ``so they don't feel they need to go to a gun to resolve a conflict.''

Means, now 22, was 11 when his mother enrolled him and a younger brother in kung fu lessons in their Providence, R.I., hometown. ``We used to fight a lot, so my mother thought it would help calm us down,'' he said.

At Hampton University, Means returned to kung fu ``initially as a form of stress release. Its philosophy tends to integrate the mind, body and spirit.''

The discipline also helped him with his schoolwork and to be more patient with people, Means said.

Means is rigid about one rule: no homework, no kung fu. One afternoon, he sent two teen-age boys home after giving them several chances to do their assignments before the martial arts began.

``For next week, you do two essays: one on discipline, one on the value of truth,'' he told one teen.

David S. Johnson Sr. watched as his son, David Jr., 8, enjoyed the kung fu lesson. ``It helps him control his temper,'' the elder Johnson said. ``It gives a positive attitude.''

CAST is sponsored by the Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project and the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Means works for Brown and Associates, which was contracted to organize CAST.

Ideas for this column? Contact Mike Knepler at 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510; phone 446-2275 or 436-6195; or e-mail knep(AT)pilotonline.com MEMO: For information about CAST, call Okera Means at 471-2681. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

GARY C. KNAPP

Okera Means, right, tutors Rojhaim Cherry, 7, in a Suffolk program

called CAST or Comprehensive After-School Tutorial.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu