Mount Vernon Nazarene University: Hola Program
Mount Vernon Nazarene University’s Tavaris Taylor, Chief Ethics & Intercultural Affairs Officer, led an afterschool ESL tutoring and mentorship program for Knox County’s local Hispanic community of k-12 students and adult family members during fall semester. The program helped to bridge learning gaps in English, math, and science with an objective to increase reading levels for students who were reading below grade level. T
Project Impact
• It increased student confidence, cultural identity awareness and emotional growth removing barriers to thrive in a wider school setting.
• It further developed student social-emotional skills by building trust and resilience as mentors encouraged, praised and measured growth through individual hard work.
• Long-term it increases the likelihood that these students will continue their education beyond secondary school, in which our institution provides substantial financial aid to these students.
Project Outcomes
• Increase of students coming to Hola on a weekly basis:
o Elementary students 50%
o Middle School 20%
o High School 20%
o Adult Learners 60%
• An increase in adult learners attending weekly due to our Elli program and hiring of student workers.
• Increased campus visits to our university by students of the HOLA program.
• Increase of student applications due to the level of comfort by family. We are projected to have three new students enroll for fall 2025. This is an increase from previous years.
• Increases of overall grades of our high school level students.