The College of Liberal Arts

My summer has been spent in the College of Liberal Arts helping Dr. Stephen Monroe plan a summer enrichment program for low-income children. It is called Horizons and it is set to launch at Ole Miss next summer. This is actually a national program that is currently operating in 11 states, the main focus of each program being literacy assistance, swimming lessons, and academically enriching activities to prevent the gap in learning that grows during the summer months.

I have had a fantastic time learning about this program and it has been exciting being able to envision it on our campus next year. I recently traveled to Atlanta with Dr. Monroe and Sharon Levine to see two Horizons programs in action and it was amazing. There were fourth graders that were knitting and reciting poetry, third graders that were avidly reading the Tale of Despereaux, and high-school students doing career exploration. It was a truly rewarding experience seeing these kids so engaged in the classroom and knowing that, without a program like this, they would likely be sitting at home or roaming the streets.

In addition to planning Horizons, I have also been working on a few projects for my VISTA position at North Panola High School next year. I have been working to help a woman in Sardis gain non-profit status for the Guardian Angels Foundation, the organization that she started to provide children with somewhere to go during the summer and after school to receive tutoring and take part in other academic activities.

That has been my summer in a nutshell. A truly invaluable experience filled with lots of emailing and paperwork and visiting people!