The College of Educational Enrichment To Graduate 37 Students With Special Needs On December 1st

SPARTANBURG, SC – November 24, 2010 – The College of Educational Enrichment, a joint partnership between the School of Education at University of South Carolina Upstate and the Charles Lea Center for Rehabilitation and Special Education, began in June 2006 to enable students with physical and mental disabilities to attend courses on the college campus in as close to a normal learning environment as possible.

This has been one of our highly successful community partnership programs,” said Dr. Charles Love, dean of the School of Education at USC Upstate. “It has been mutually beneficial to the Charles Lea Center student participants and to the USC Upstate teacher education students who have gained valuable field experiences working in the program. 

On Wednesday, December 1 at 6:30 p.m., the program will hold its second annual graduate ceremony in the Campus Life Center Ballroom on the USC Upstate campus. Thirty-seven students will graduate. The College of Educational Enrichment will honor 20 students with the Initial Degree of Educational Enrichment for completing a minimum of five courses and 17 students with the “Advanced Degree of Educational Enrichment for completing at least 8 courses.

“Since its inception, this program has severed more than 250 participants and currently we have 127 active participants with nine instructors teaching health and nutrition, strategy games, music, art, crafts, dance, reading, aerobics, and computer skills,” said Dr. Lori Tanner, assistant professor of education at USC Upstate. “I’m pleased to say that USC Upstate School of Education students have been providing support to me and the College of Educational Enrichment staff.”

For more information about the College of Educational Enrichment, contact Dr. Lori Tanner, assistant professor of education at USC Upstate, at 864-503-5636 or [email protected].