Mercer University Students Help Children at Ingram/Pye Elementary Achieve Math, Reading Goals

Mercer University Students are sharing their wisdom with some of Bibb County’s elementary schoolers.

The Promise Neighborhood initiative aims to bring college students into the elementary and middle schools around the area to help kids with math and reading. Organizers say the program can help schools achieve their goals while allowing young students to learn from older students who’ve made it to college.

“The young students want to emulate these older students and understand things,” says Mary Alice Morgan, Senior Provost for Service Learning at Mercer. “They’re really eager to please–and so when math and multiplication comes along, or hard vocabulary words, they get so much encouragement from the college students that they really want to perform at a high level, and frequently test scores go up and attendance frequently goes up.”

The initiative is a partnership between Communities in Schools, Ingram/Pye Elementary, and Mercer University. The three hope to expand the program to other schools in the area in the near future.