BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- If college learning for inner-city residents may once have seemed out of reach, a partnership among Covington schools, Northern Kentucky's colleges and two community service groups is bringing higher education within easy grasp.
The Urban Learning Center at John G. Carlisle Elementary School offers six basic college courses, all for free. Child care, textbooks, notebooks and pencils are provided. Classes are offered in the evenings, one or two nights a week.
"I always wanted to experience college, but I always had the fear of going back to school," said Holly Dodson, 31, a mother of two teens. "I figured if I didn't like it I could drop out, but I loved it."
Mrs. Dodson completed a writing composition class last year, when the Urban Learning Center was started. She's returning this year to take sociology. Eventually, she'd like to complete a four-year degree.
Learning center classes are taught by Northern Kentucky University and Thomas More College faculty, so credits are transferable to either college.
Last year, 38 people filled two classes. This year the center is offering six classes: in sociology, developmental math, algebra, English composition, college writing and study skills.
Joan Whalen, 54, said she thinks the classes are a great way for people to improve their careers and their lives. She took the writing class last year and signed up for college writing this year.
"I turned down two college scholarships out of high school for a job and a family," Mrs. Whalen said. "Now I'm catching up to what I always wanted to do."
Ellen Muse-Lindeman, youth development coordinator at the Covington Community Center, said she's been impressed with the dedication of the learning center students.
"I'm just convinced that it's a great opportunity for people who always thought about college and dreamed about it in the back of their mind, but it was always a little bit inaccessible," she said. "Now there's an opportunity to try it."
Mrs. Dodson and Mrs. Whalen said the work wasn't easy. They described the classes as real college work.
"There were many times I wanted to quit," Mrs. Dodson said. "It was hard to find the time with children, running a house and working two jobs. But I wanted my kids to see this as an example.
"And my 12-year-old was so impressed he told me I should wait until he's old enough for college so we could go together."
