On April 27th, 2022, The Dalton and Linda Floyd Family Mentoring Program and Coastal Carolina University held the 12th annual TEAL (Talking Education And Learning) Youth Day. This year, more than 250 elementary and middle school students in Horry County schools—and close to 200 CCU student mentors—participated in the event.
The Family Mentoring Program partners college students to serve as mentors to K-8 students, sharing a variety of fun educational activities that encourage students to succeed. Education and artistic expression go hand-in-hand to spark creativity, curiosity, and friendship.
While the CCU student mentors typically make weekly visits to children at their own schools, having the kids come for a day to the campus brings out the smiles and further increases engagement. Providing the young people that participate in the program the opportunity to visit a college campus to see where their mentors go to school, it not only makes the idea of a college experience more inviting, but it also motivates them to consider higher education in their own futures.
“Prior to this year, our last TEAL Youth Day was held in November of 2019. Sadly, between hurricanes and COVID, we were unable to have children on campus for some time, which made last Tuesday all the more precious! This academic year, the program had close to 200 mentors who worked with over 250 elementary and middle school students in Horry County schools!” —Rebecca Masters (Program Coordinator for the Dalton and Linda Floyd Family Mentoring Program)
The Dalton and Linda Floyd Family Mentoring program is housed in CCU’s Biddle Center for Teaching, Learning and Community Engagement within the Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences. The program encourages CCU students to be positive role models for children in area schools to ensure their success in and out of the classroom.
This event could not happen without the involvement of many caring people. The Floyd family extends their gratitude to the faculty and staff that help to encourage students to be mentors. Big thanks go to Rebecca Masters, the Program Coordinator for the Dalton and Linda Floyd Family Mentoring Program.
Since 2004, the Mentoring Program has led to over 4500 undergraduate students helping to mentor and guide primarily fourth and fifth graders in and around Horry and Georgetown counties. Each year we hope to see more students helped and more kids excited about learning and about their futures.
For more information, please visit The Dalton and Linda Floyd College Readiness Program.
