The A+ Program: The Studiousness Behind the Scholarship

Over the years, the A+ Program has been known as a benefit to high school students hoping to get free college tuition at Ozark Technical Community College. In order to complete this program, students must have a ninety-five percent attendance rate, a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA, and at least 50 community volunteer hours. To achieve these hours, students enrolled in the program spend at least one semester their senior year student aiding for a class in the elementary school. Working hands on with the kids throughout a general classroom setting, gives them a sense of importance and introduces them to the world of responsibility and maturity. It also gives young elementary students the opportunity to obtain an older role model to look up to. Mrs. McKeever, a fourth grade teacher at Fair Grove Elementary, commented, “This program provides our elementary students with another person in their life to look up to on a daily basis. A+ students get to spend time with students that need extra support educationally and emotionally.”

Though high school students aid in a variety of different classes and help teachers with several different objectives, their key purpose is the same: to help students excel. Elementary students are at a highly impressionable age, therefore having as many positive people in their life is very important. As for the A+ students, experiencing adolescence from a viewpoint other than one’s own childhood is very rewarding and teaches A+ students how to communicate with a different age group. Holly Lemon, a current senior enrolled in the A+ program, stated, “I love being with the kids in my A+ class everyday… It brings me joy to see their smiles when I am helping them learn.”

Once students of the A+ program have finished their 50 tutoring hours, as long as their attendance and how rates stay high enough to qualify, they will be granted a free two year ride to Ozark Technical Community College. As they go off and begin their studies towards their futures, each of their students will remember their A+ tutor and all they did for them.