LEWISTON —  Lewiston Educational Achievement Program is a partnership between the Lewiston schools and L/A Arts, a 37-year-old organization that is the local arts agency for Lewiston and Auburn.

The LEAP schedule at both Lewiston Middle School and Lewiston High School will run from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with bus transportation available after the programs.

LEAP will start at the middle school on Tuesday, Sept. 6, with an introductory presentation from 2:30 to 4 p.m. The high school introductory presentation will be from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13. The first two weeks of LEAP at both schools will be an opportunity for students to meet and learn from key Lewiston community members — Lewiston Police Department, United Ambulance, American Red Cross and other local organizations — and receive Homework Help as well.

LEAP applications will be available at both the middle school and high school offices, at the L/A Arts office at 221 Lisbon St. and on the L/A Arts website, www.laarts.org.

Lewiston Educational Achievement Program, in its third year in Lewiston, is one of 33 grants and 85 after-school programs in Maine that are grant-funded to offer academic support and enrichment workshops to Maine students.

For the past two years, LEAP has hired a dedicated staff of several Lewiston teachers to work with students needing homework assistance. Enrichment activities were also available at the middle school, as well as a four-week summer school this past year. The high school students enjoyed a week long array of new experiences including a trip to the Portland Museum of Art, college tours of CMCC and Bates and a workshop with Randy Judkins at the end of the regular school year this past June.

Newly hired LEAP Director, Lori Safford, and L/A Arts Art in Education and Youth Development Coordinator, Toni Cerbo, who will also serve as the LEAP middle school coordinator, along with Lewiston high school teacher Jim Siragusa who has been the high school coordinator since LEAP’s inception, have big plans for the expanded and enriched LEAP.

“Of course, we are still offering Homework Help, which is important, but we are also adding what we call ‘LEAP Lessons,’ which are project-based/experiential learning opportunities for students at both the middle and high schools,” said Safford. “These activities will help students use their academic skills in real-life projects that will have a community component.”

For example, a LEAP Lesson may involve students interviewing senior citizens then filming and sketching historical buildings to document the history of Lewiston. Each member of the LEAP staff, which includes several Lewiston teachers in addition to youth development professionals and art educators, will be trained in designing project-based activities that culminate in a community presentation and/or sharing.

In addition to Homework Help and project-based learning, LEAP students will be treated to a wide array of weekly enrichment programs, from drumming to zumba to film production classes to painting with local artists to attending theater productions to making jewelry to writing and performing poetry slams, and more.