A.S.P.I.R.E. provides pathway to GED

The A.S.P.I.R.E. program is in its pilot year; the program strives to extend educational opportunities to both children and parents. It began in September of 2010. A.S.P.I.R.E. stands for A Student Parent Initiative Revitalizing Education. The program is structured to assist pre-kindergarten students tested at risk for not being ready to move forward to kindergarten while simultaneously helping a family member, preferably a parent, achieve a GED or other form of higher education.

It is a requirement for the parent to remain in school in order for child to be a part of the program.

“I love that this program is not just for the kids, but it is encouragement for the parents to go back to school as well,” said junior English literature and business management major Alex Dixon, a frequent volunteer at A.S.P.I.R.E..

“What makes our program different from others is that someone in the young child’s family is continuing their own education. We host the after school program in the Early Learning Center and we also collaborate with higher education facilities including Georgia Military College, Central Georgia Technical College and Georgia College,” said on-site coordinator Debbie Lamsma. “We like to keep the number of students enrolled to a maximum of 15 students per class to maintain a ratio of two teachers to 15 students.”

With grant funding from the Governor’s Office of Children and Families, the A.S.P.I.R.E. program sustains two classrooms and has a total of 30 students. The program takes place Monday through Thursday from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. The program places great emphasis on learning and retaining a strictly classroom environment.

“The main focus of our program is to get education started on the right foot,” Lamsma said. “The feedback has been phenomenal and one of our teachers recently said what a pleasure it is to teach these children.”

The foundation of the program is its volunteers. Both students and teachers alike volunteer from around Baldwin County to make this program possible. Funding gets the ball rolling, but volunteers keep the program afloat.

“I love helping with the ASPIRE program because I love helping kids understand concepts they have been struggling with,” said junior marketing major Jennifer Cornacchione. “The most rewarding part is to see the light bulb go off in their head when they finally grasp a concept.”

Grasping concepts is what A.S.P.I.R.E. is all about. Whether it is education or parenting, A.S.P.I.R.E. stands to further learning for both parents and children. It aims to reach out to families in four major ways. These include early childhood education, adult education, parenting education and inter-generational literacy activities.

“I love to see the progress that the kids make,” Dixon said. “When I first started volunteering I had a child in my class who could not write his name. Now he can get through almost all of it without my assistance. It is so cool to watch the kids get it.”

Posted by Brooks McAlister on Apr 7 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.