Several education majors from Montreat College stood around the gate to the In the Oaks campus in the middle of the afternoon this week waiting for the school bus to come.

It is a familiar scene for these young adults - twice a week the bus comes with a group of third grade students from Black Mountain Primary for some tutoring help at Montreat College, and they're welcomed at the gate and walked up to the Administration building where they gather for a hand with their math and spelling and reading assignments.

The tutoring sessions are made possible by a program called "Learning to Teach, Learning to Serve," which is funded by SCALE, the Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education. SCALE's mission, in part, is "to mobilize and support college students and campus-based programs to address the literacy needs of this country." A federally funded effort, SCALE's "Learning to Teach, Learning to Serve" initiative is a new project aimed at "working with North Carolina institutions of higher education to infuse teacher education programs with service-learning instruction."

Bill Hodge, the Counselor at Black Mountain Primary, explained that as this partnership between Black Mountain Primary and Montreat College formed, teachers from his school held training sessions with the Montreat students to "help them learn tutoring strategies that would help our kids." Hodge works with teachers to identify students that could use a little special help in a subject area so they can get connected with a tutor at Montreat. In addition to ongoing help with their basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills, the tutors are helping to prepare these students for their End of Grade tests.

Montreat College's three-fold mission -- Christ-centered, student-focused and service-driven -- makes the LTLS goals a close fit for educators and students at Montreat. SCALE currently funds 12 colleges and universities in North Carolina through the LTLS program, including Mars Hill College and the UNC-Asheville.

Montreat College is a Christ-centered liberal arts institution with its main campus for four-year traditional students in Montreat. The accelerated School of Professional and Adult Studies program has campuses in Asheville, Charlotte, and Black Mountain, with courses being taught in Cherokee, Murphy and other NC locations.

Written By: Michael Dechane
Posted By: Nathan King
Date Posted: 3/18/2008
Number of Views: 637