8/2/22, 12:38 AM “It Takes A Village” Project receives $1.

25 million grant - Elon News Network

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“It Takes A Village” Project receives $1.25 million

grant
The tutoring program received a grant from the Oak Foundation to expand outreach
in the Alamance-Burlington School System
By
Graysen Shirley |
6/9/21 8:28pm

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Photo by Graysen Shirley | Elon News Network

President Connie Book smiles as she announces the expansion of the “It Takes A Village” Project at a press conference in the Great Hall on June 9, 2021.

Jose Alex Reyes, an incoming freshman and Odyssey Scholar at Elon University, participated in the “It Takes A Village” Project
since he was in first grade. The “It Takes A Village” Project is a program where Elon students and other volunteers provide
tutoring services to K-12 students in the Alamance-Burlington School System.  

That’s why he is excited to become involved in the program next year, and he hopes the program’s newest expansion will allow
even more students in Alamance County to receive the same specialized education and learning opportunities he had. 

“It’s not just for me tutoring, it’s more of having to be with people around me who are constantly pushing me and constantly
motivating me to become a better person,” Reyes said. “Overall, I am still involved because I’m truly passionate, and I want to see
the change within other students.”

The “It Takes A Village” Project received a $1.25 million grant from the Oak Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on
addressing global, social and environmental issues, to expand tutoring outreach in Alamance County. Based in Switzerland, the
Oak Foundation has supported the Elon tutoring program for the past 12 years, according to program director Jean Rattigan-
Rohr.

The grant is a continuation of the partnership between Elon University and the Alamance-Burlington School System and provides
tutoring services to K-12 students. President of Elon University Connie Book said during the June 9 press conference that the
grant will allow 1,200 students in the Alamance-Burlington School System to receive tutoring services from Elon students and
other volunteers starting this fall. 

“It truly is a village focused on literacy and learning,” Book said. “The Village Project has helped build a solid educational
foundation and provided these young students a pathway and a vision for personal academic success.” 

Rattigan-Rohr told Elon News Network she hopes funding from the new grant will help assist students in Alamance County who
have struggled with online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to Rattigan-Rohr, the tutoring program will
partner with all 12 Title I elementary schools in the county. Title I schools are given supplemental federal funds to help low-
income students meet their educational needs and goals. 

“Elementary-grade students seem to be the students who really, really struggled this past year, and we decided, ‘you know what,
we really need to focus on the foundation grades,’” Rattigan-Rohr said.

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8/2/22, 12:38 AM “It Takes A Village” Project receives $1.25 million grant - Elon News Network

A new partnership between the “It Takes A Village” Project, Elon’s physician assistant program and Alamance Community College
will be created as a result of the grant to integrate medical science education into middle schools throughout the county. About
100 middle school students who are enrolled in the ACC Minority Males in Medicine program, a program primarily designed for
male middle school students with minority identities, will be able to receive specialized science instruction from students,
faculty and staff at Elon’s School of Health Sciences. 

Algie Gatewood, the president of ACC, said the timing of the grant “couldn’t have been better” and hopes to continue to bring in
medical professionals to work with middle school students. 

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