Summer program offers kids new hope

Tag : Tool For Children

With her hair pulled back in a ponytail, 15-year-old AlleshiaPayne, a rising sophomore, eagerly says, "I want to be a doctor oneday."
Rising senior Arana Taylor, 18, smiling with braces gleaming, alsohopes for a brighter future. "Since I was a little girl, I'vedreamed of being a lawyer," she says.
Courses offered this summer include math, algebra, English,history, biology and science. At a cost of less than $7.50 each perday, students receive round-trip transportation, two meals andcoursework throughout the six-week program.
"This is an affordable outlet for both enrichment purposes and tohelp students who fell short during the regular school year," saysJerry Moore, Marshall County schools director of instructionalservices. "It's a tremendous dropout-prevention tool that offershope to these children. It's a light at the end of the tunnel formany of them."
If not for the cooperation between the University of Mississippi,the MTC and county and city school districts, the summer programwould be impossible to operate, Moore said.
"Ole Miss and the Teacher Corps have been very good to us," hesays. "They've provided us with some great teachers."
For students such as Payne and Taylor to succeed in critical-needspublic schools, it's important for them to encounter teachers whocare and love them, said Andy Mullins, MTC co-director andexecutive assistant to Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat.
"Many of our children don't have any hope until they meet one ofour Mississippi Teacher Corps teachers," he says. "Slowly, andsurely in some cases, we are making a difference in the lives ofchildren who have fallen victim to this vicious cycle."
Says Mississippi Teacher Corps teacher Chimaobi Amutah, a22-year-old Harvard University graduate: "The students have tounderstand that you are in the classroom for the right reasons inorder to build their trust.
"You must gain their respect. Education is based on lighting a firein your students and not simply filling a void. I push my studentsvery hard. It's tough love, and I love them all."