Their efforts to support students, their families and communities have led to measurable improvements in students' math and reading performance, as well as in other indices of behavior. NSCC programs have also led to cleaner and safer neighborhoods, and have involved students and adults in new drama, chorus, dance, and other art and music programs. The Even Start program is working with adult learners, teenage parents, and young children from preschool through grade three. On a typical day recently, Ellis-Smith taught four adult students who are working toward their Graduate Equivalency Degrees. She has tested them to discern what they need to learn, and soon she will work with the adults and their children in their homes.
Parents become learners, and their kids become learners too.
The results for Ellis-Smith have been gratifying. Some came into the class and couldn't read at all. Now they read sentences. Some couldn't write at all and now they write paragraphs. The children, who would be characterized as underachievers, are actively involved in the classes and with their fellow students.