Lanier Technical College is teaming with Tadmore Elementary School to offer a new adult education program in East Hall.

Lauren Armour Pugh, vice president for institutional advancement at Lanier Tech, said classes would be provided to help individuals get their GED or learn English.

Pugh said Lanier Tech’s role will be to provide the curriculum and resources to help with instruction, while Tadmore Elementary will provide space and volunteers to teach classes.

“The success of this program, I really think, is relying on so many people within the schools that are willing to assist,” Pugh said. “It’s mostly educators who are willing to stay after hours and conduct classes two days a week.”

One of the volunteers leading the effort at Tadmore Elementary is Pugh’s mother, Joan Armour, who teaches at Tadmore. Armour said the idea for the program surfaced one Saturday early in October during a community workday to build a playground for the children at Tadmore. She said the informal discussion led to an informational meeting with members from the community that were interested in continuing their education at Tadmore.

“Our goal was to have at least 50 interested in continuing their education at Tadmore, and we had over 100 attend the first meeting,” Armour said. “We now have 138 individuals who want to participate.”

Tadmore Elementary Principal Robin Gower said approximately 87 percent of school’s students are Hispanic.

“We know we have a lot of parents who don’t speak English, and so this gives us an opportunity to work with them,” Gower said. “I hope they’re going to teach me some Spanish in the process.”

Although organizers don’t have a schedule yet, Gower said the thinking is having classes twice a week at night for a couple of hours.

“Our goal is to help our parents in some way,” Gower added. “We figure if we get our parents involved in their own education, then it’s easier for us to get them involved in the education of their children.”

Pugh said Lanier Tech will administer an assessment test to determine the educational level of the adults who enroll for the classes. Until the assessments are completed, Pugh said organizers won’t know how many different levels of instruction will be needed.

“The biggest thing is having enough volunteers to actually make it a meaningful opportunity,” Pugh said. “That’s really where we’re at right now.”

Armour said 10 current and retired faculty members from Tadmore Elementary and Lanier Tech have signed up as volunteers to teach classes.

“With interest growing daily, we would love for others to join with us in volunteering to make dreams into a reality,” Armour said. “We really need people that are passionate for others, and we will find a place for you to serve.”