Contact: Paige Watson
LOUISVILLE, Miss.—Now in its third year, an after-school and summer program named for a late Mississippi State alumna is continuing to benefit students in the Louisville Municipal School District, as well as MSU College of Education students.
In 2013, the Mississippi Department of Education awarded a nearly $2 million grant to the university’s College of Education and LMSD to help boost student achievement through academic tutoring, interventions, and literacy and mathematics enrichment.
Part of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers programs, Dillard’s Reading, Enrichment, Arts, Mathematics and Science (DREAMS) program focuses on assisting students in the district’s kindergarten-fourth grades.
The state-of-the-art educational approach is named for the late Susan Gregory Dillard, an MSU alumna and longtime LMSD teacher who assisted with the initial grant proposal.
The program provides extra attention needed to improve reading and mathematics skills at Fair and Louisville elementary schools, along with Nanih Waiya and Noxapater attendance centers.
Brittney McAfee, DREAMS program coordinator, said this year the after-school program has introduced art and library enrichment.
“Our students are excited to continue to come to DREAMS and sharpen their learning skills well into the afternoon hours,” she said.
“Having additional art included throughout the afternoon motivates students to perform well, and it really excites them to elaborate on their interests during the after-school time,” said Kelly Quick, program art teacher and MSU College of Education alumna.
LMSD superintendent Ken McMullan said the after-school program benefits the students tremendously.
“Students participate in wonderful activities that give them exposure to things they would likely never get to take part in,” he said, adding that they are able to complete homework and gain confidence by improving their grades.
McAfee concurred that students enrolled in the program are nurturing better grades and reflecting higher self-esteem.
With approximately 185 LMSD students in the after-school program, MSU elementary education pre-service teachers in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education work with small student groups in completing math enrichment activities, which provide invaluable and authentic learning opportunities for their own upcoming teaching internships.
David Luke, Louisville Elementary principal said, “Because of the DREAMS program here at Louisville Elementary, we’re seeing positive test results and affirmation that the students are engaging in their reading and mathematics enrichment activities.”
For more about DREAMS, contact the program office at 662-773-2015.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading research university, available online at www.msstate.edu.