Corridor of Hope

While Clemson University’s Eugene T. Moore School of Education consistently ranks as one of the best education programs in the state, education majors have even more of an advantage because of a unique program that is only offered at this university. Students in the Moore Scholars Creative Inquiry, under the leadership of Dr. Angela Rogers, professor in the Department of Education, get hands-on experience as to what it really is like to be thrown into a teaching situation that is uncommon for many. “Students get really meaningful experiences. We visit a place that has been dubbed the “Corridor of Shame” because of a lack of adequate funding for schools there, but we like to view it as a corridor of hope and opportunity,” reflects Rogers.

Each semester, education majors in the Moore Scholars program meet once a week to plan for summer projects as well as to debate, read books together and lead (practice teaching skills) with one another. The main project students plan for and execute is the Bamberg Project where students spend one week of the summer visiting a critical needs area in South Carolina. While there, Clemson sophomores teach a poetry class and, once the program is completed, host a poetry slam for the high schools students they spent the week teaching. Later in the summer, freshmen welcome students from diverse backgrounds to the Clemson campus as they host a multimedia arts camp.

The program has been successful and has grown since Rogers took over the program a few years ago. Perhaps what is most exciting about the Moore Scholars program though is where things are headed next. A program in the works, STEAM, will bring local critical needs high school students, to Clemson’s campus to participate in transdisciplinary, project-based learning while mentoring them and introducing them to college life.

The Creative Inquiry team wants to broaden the program by including middle and elementary school students in need beyond the Bamberg area. Students who went to Bamberg last summer will be returning this year. Only this time, the juniors will be closely observing and mentoring the sophomores who are teaching the poetry lessons, to determine what the effective methods are and how self- efficacy has been affected through their programs. This unique opportunity will surely provide valuable insight and perspective as these Clemson students conduct their research. The area this Creative Inquiry wishes to expand most is in the area of publishing their research.

Since the program is fairly new, a lot of effort has been made to start a solid relationship with the school in Bamberg. Now, with that relationship solidified, the team can focus more on developing the Saturday STEAM program and publishing results in order to help the communities outside of this program. The unofficial motto of this Creative Inquiry perfectly encapsulates the idea behind everything they will continue to do, “You will not only be a teacher but an agent of change.” What an honor to have some of Clemson University’s best and brightest affecting such positive change in communities in South Carolina. Surely, the impact will continue to bring hope to generations to come.