Launch Into College Offers Intensive Courses for Incoming Freshmen

Lander University has given almost 60 students the chance to knock out a few classes through an intensive five-week program meant to help with the transition from high school to college.

Launch Into College has allowed students to take an English and a math class while living on campus during part of their summer break. It was provided through a grant from South Carolina’s Commission on Higher Education.

Students taking the courses are local students who just graduated high school or are incoming Lander freshmen from South Carolina. There are also rising Lander sophomores who needed to retake one of the courses and take the other for the first time.

“As the College of Education, we’re here to support our community, support our local schools and support our students,” said Dr. Sarah Hunt-Barron, dean of the College of Education.

The program, she said, gives students a chance to build on their strengths, show they can succeed in college by taking two college courses in five weeks and connect with close to 60 other people learning and living together.

“The goal of the grant is to help with residual gaps in student learning as a result of the COVID pandemic, as well as assist students with the transition from high school to college,” said Hunt-Barron.

Students attend two classes, four days a week, for the five-week summer term. They have access to tutoring, which Hunt-Barron said has shown to be effective in K-12 classrooms.

The tutors are Lander education students who are part of the program and live in the same residence hall and hold drop-in hours four nights a week. They sit in class with the students, helping inside and outside the classroom.

Jeramiah Holmes, a senior from Greenwood, said as an elementary education major, “Being able to work with diverse students from different backgrounds with different experiences and cultures is nice.” And, he added, “you can only be better at teaching by teaching.”  

Oliver Danner, a senior from Ninety Six, said as a special education major, “It’s fun to be able to provide differentiation and individualized instruction to students. It’s good practice.”

Along with academics, the tutors have gotten experience in the emotional side of being a teacher, seeing breakthroughs with students. They also serve as mentors to the students, many of whom haven’t begun college yet.

Simone James, a junior early childhood Montessori major from Gaston, said the tutors “help the students prepare for college and are there for them as they mature.”

Dr. Tamara Pack, assistant professor of education, said the tutors have learned about assessing students and their needs, such as what foundations are missing and determining the best way to attack a problem.

“The tutors have learned so much about the educational process but then I think the people in the program are really benefiting from it because they are getting so much support, so much guided support,” Pack said.

“Once you have those foundational math and English classes down, you feel like a more confident student,” she said, something the College of Education has seen to be true in the students from last summer’s Launch IntoCollege program.