By Nyame-kye Kondo, Special to the AFRO
For the last 13 years, D.C. based organization, Butterfly Works has provided high school students in the D.M.V area with quality classes to get them prepared for one of the most important standardized test’s in America, The SATs.
Founded by native Washingtonian, Shuyinthia Hembry, Butterfly Works is consistently contracted by various high schools and organizations throughout the region to teach SAT prep to burgeoning college students.
Butterfly Works is a Black owned SAT Prep program that focuses on helping bridge the success gap for African American students. (Courtesy Photo)
The AFRO was recently able to catch up with Hembry at Friendship Public Charter School, where Butterfly Works is currently based as apart of the College Success Foundations work study program, an initiative under the Marion Barry, DC. Summer Youth Employment Program.
Hembry gave us a glimpse into a bright future for college bound teenagers in the District, and what their goals are. “Our goal is simple: To transform minds and create learning success stories, one student at a time,” she told the AFRO.
Butterfly Works seeks to truly allow students to blossom into their best selves.
“Here at Butterfly Works, we believe that students’ minds are like butterflies and that once they learn how to fly, they can never go back to being a caterpillar. We believe in this work and we expound on this idea communally by preparing our students for the scholarly trials that are sure to come if they decide to continue on the track of higher education,” Hembry said.
The reality is that the SAT is one of the primary factors that determines whether a student gets accepted to college or not, and statistics proves that with any test, it’s best to be debriefed over a span of time, rather than attempt to cram everything at once.
In 2014, The Huffpost reported that students who prepare for these tests by focusing on areas of content where they struggle and practicing test-taking strategies, “can improve their SAT scores anywhere from 100 to even 400 points, on average.”
Lack of resources being one of the main reasons that African American students have historically been disenfranchised in this country, programs like Butterfly Works aims to bridge this gap by coming to it’s students through the schools, especially those in low income areas.
Whether it’s one student at a time or in a classroom with a couple of dozen, Butterfly Works, works. Head over to their website, http://www.butterflyworksdc.org for more information.