Owensboro Independent’s Homework Diner provides academic support to students and their families. Photo courtesy of Owensboro Independent
(OWENSBORO, KY) – Foust Elementary School (Owensboro Independent) has continued its community initiative, the Homework Diner, aimed at supporting students and families outside the classroom.
The program is funded by the Kentucky Community Schools Initiative, which provides funding to schools to implement programs in the community that address the needs of students and families.
The program, which started in 2024, is designed to build connections among families through shared meals and provide them with proper tools and skills to help students with their homework.
Brian Benjamin, community schools coordinator for Owensboro Independent, explained that the idea was inspired by a similar initiative in Oregon and tailored to meet the school’s needs.
“As a team, we thought about some families at Foust that we thought needed to be more connected to the school,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin noted that a broad range of families could benefit from increased engagement with the school, including those new to the community, English language learner families and longtime residents who may have lost connection.
Families gather in the school cafeteria once a month on a school night, typically arriving by 5 p.m. CT and staying until around 6:30 p.m. They are served dinner by a community partner.
“It’s a lot of smiles and laughs, and it’s great to see families hanging out together and sharing a good meal,” Benjamin said. “It’s good to see folks from the community and the school and the students and families all interact in a positive way. It’s an easy win for everybody involved.”
Benjamin said the Homework Diner provides academic support to students and their families, with school staff on hand to help with homework and model positive behaviors.
Students are encouraged to work on weekly homework packets or “i-Ready” lessons, a computer-based benchmark assessment tool that offers individualized learning paths for reading and writing skills.
“We are building those skills and modeling the behaviors we would like to see the parents, students and families doing at home,” Benjamin said.
Having staff nearby to support families helps guide them on how to assist students, build learning habits and boost confidence.
“We want to provide a vehicle for the families to engage with each other … having the school staff there and the community folks there really takes it to another level because everybody is there together,” Benjamin said.
Students are also free to read books or play a variety of educational games and activities.
Beth Blandford, principal at Foust Elementary, shared that the greatest benefit she has observed is a noticeable boost in student confidence.
“Students will come up to me and tell me, ‘Hey, I met my i-Ready goal,’ ‘I went up so many points,’ or, you know, ‘I’m projected to be proficient.’ They’re excited about that,” she said.
Unity Carter Swanagan, a 4th-grade student at Foust Elementary, shared that her favorite part of the Homework Diner is working with her classmates.
“We usually work together and do homework together, and the teachers help us a lot,” she said.
Blandford added that the program has also improved parent relationships and communication by giving them insight into their children’s academic work.
“Schools are closed off at times and parents drop their kids off and they don’t know exactly what they’re doing, and I feel like this gives them an insight into what we’re doing during the day,” she said.
The program’s success also comes from the continuous support from community partners, including local restaurants, banks and nonprofits.
“We’ve had great support from our community, and we’ve been able to cater really nice meals,” Benjamin said.
He noted that the event’s popularity has only grown.
“This was so successful last year that when we went to roll it out this year, we had people who were like, ‘Hey, we want to get involved with this because it’s super fun,’” he said.
As the school year comes to a close, the Homework Diner continues to strengthen connections between families, students and staff. Benjamin expressed that with growing community support, the program is sure to make a lasting impact into the next school year.
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