DECATUR - Taylor Hudson, 7, and Ashanti Cook, 6, just thought they were playing as they put together a floor puzzle of the United States.

Taylor, a second-grader at French Academy, showed Ashanti where Ohio went, then said, "I've been to Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee."

But the girls were also getting a geography lesson at the Boys & Girls Club of Decatur, where learning has gotten a lot more fun thanks to Power Hour materials provided under a $25,000 grant from Charity Projects Entertainment Fund/Idol Gives Back.

These include educational board games, puzzles, books and computer games children can use after they've finished their homework, plus items for an incentives store where students can "buy" things with the points they've earned for assignments completed, taken to school and brought back.

Anita Buckner, education coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club, said the number of children coming to the club to do their homework has more than doubled from 10 a day to 25 a day before the club's fall program began Sept. 9 with Power Hour on board.

"We're serving 71 different kids," Buckner said, "and the neat thing is they're learning but don't always know they're learning."

Volunteer homework helper Leslie Barsema, Northtown branch manager for Regions Bank, said she's noticed the influx of students and also how much more challenging school work is than when she was growing up. "This is a good program because education is important," she said.

Hope Academy fourth-grader DeJour Bradford, 9, said he's earned 100 points so far and is looking forward to spending them. Thirteen-year-old Sandra Leggions, an eighth-grader at Robertson Charter School, said seeing her name and point total posted makes her feel good.

"I like coming here," she said. "There are people to help you with your homework, and you can get it done. At home, you tend to do other things, and forget about it."

AGOODDEAL

Youths 7 to 17 can get a one-year membership at the Boys & Girls Club of Decatur, 859 N. Jasper St., by bringing the most recent school report card or midterm, filling out an application and paying a $1 membership fee. For information, call 422-9605.

tchurchill@herald-review.com|421-7978