AT&T has gifted $40,000 to support a UNCW Betty Holden Stike Education Laboratory program that will provide afterschool virtual tutoring services to students in underserved communities in Southeast North Carolina. The UNCW Watson College of Education’s Stike Ed Lab is partnering with NC Project LEAD and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern North Carolina on the project.
On November 8, the Boys & Girls Clubs Community Campus in downtown Wilmington hosted an event to celebrate the new program. UNCW Chancellor Aswani Voleti, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo, Trey Rabon, AT&T’s North Carolina President, Dawn-Michele Blalock, CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern NC, and Juanita Harper, Executive Director, NC Project Lead all spoke at the event. City Councilman Rev. Clifford Barnett, Ed Lab Director Brian Brinkley, numerous UNCW and community members, and students participating in the afterschool program at the Boys & Girls Club also joined in on the celebration.
“We all understand the importance of education, and an important part of education is availability and access to technology,” Mayor Saffo said. “I am excited about this announcement and this new partnership between the public sector and the private sector here in Wilmington.”
The virtual tutoring program will provide K-5 students in three counties with access to high-speed internet, lesson materials and tutoring that enhances digital literacy and learning outcomes. UNCW students, many of whom are studying to be teachers, will be one-on-one tutors for 40 children in four partner organization facilities. Tutoring sessions will be held twice a week for 15 weeks, beginning in January. Partner coordinators will be on-site to assist children with accessing virtual tutoring and facilitating communication with online tutors.
“The Watson College of Education has provided on-campus tutoring support for children for decades,” said Watson College Interim Dean Carol McNulty. “During Covid school closures, our Ed Lab team successfully transitioned to a fully online learning environment. This generous gift from AT&T will allow Watson’s Ed Lab team to apply what they learned during the pandemic about high-quality, one-to-one virtual teaching and provide valuable learning opportunities for students from rural communities who would not regularly have access to our physical Ed Lab locations.”
The virtual tutoring program will strengthen and diversify North Carolina’s teacher pipeline through applied learning fellowships to support teachers in training and other UNCW students who may wish to explore a future career in teaching. In addition, the program will build on UNCW’s long-standing relationship with Project LEAD and the Boys & Girls Clubs to connect rural communities with cultural arts and education programming.
Virtual tutoring will be offered at the Boys & Girls Clubs Community Campus in downtown Wilmington, and at Project LEAD facilities at Cedar Grove Improvement Association Center (Brunswick) and Mt. Calvary AME Church, Navassa (Brunswick), and ZECA School of Arts and Technology afterschool program in Jacksonville (Onslow).
“We are proud to support the UNCW Watson College of Education Stike Ed Lab, NC Project LEAD and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern North Carolina to help enhance learning opportunities and outcomes for local students,” said Joey Nelson, Regional Director of External Affairs, AT&T North Carolina. “Through this collaboration, we are equipping students and future teachers with the digital skills, tools and resources they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.”
UNCW announced the news in a home page story on October 30: AT&T Contributes $40,000 for Virtual Ed Lab Program.
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