Classwork, which accounts for 20 to 25 hours a week, focuses on communication skills, reading, writing, and vocabulary. Instead, they may interview elected officials, discuss their responses, and report the conversations in a newsletter. The project director also maintains contact with the students' regular teachers and principals who, in addition to guidance counselors, refer children to the program. Instruction is individualized, based on student scores on the achievement test. Teachers also may work with a single student while the others use computers for remedial exercises.
Teachers take classes to tour radio and television stations, city hall, and the local courts.
Since 1992, the program has offered ESL classes in addition to basic education, as well as a class for physically handicapped students. The instructors are often certified teachers, and all have experience using nontraditional teaching methods and working with disadvantaged students. Teachers are recruited from local schools and universities. The program uses remedial text books and materials, purchased with grant funds, such as New Beginnings in Reading and GED program resources. The director of youth services writes the grant applications each year and is in charge of program planning and implementation, including hiring teachers and aides and planning the curriculum in conjunction with teachers.