BATESBURG-LEESVILLE, S.C. — The Voorhees University Education Center officially opened Tuesday at Midlands Technical College in Batesburg-Leesville.
The goal of this new center is to prepare those who want to become teachers. Voorhees Provost and Vice-President Dr. Damara Hightower Mitchell is the provost at Voorhees and says this center will help to break barriers and create opportunity.
“Both institutions are genuinely committed to making sure that those who want to become educators have that opportunity," said Hightower Mitchell. "That those barriers are removed and so we believe in personalized learning and so we’ll take the time and find out what the career paths and then support them in earning certification through alternative pathways.”
Midlands Tech students who get an associates degree in education are then able to continue their studies with a bachelor’s and master’s degree at Voorhees University.
Dr. Ronald Rhames is the president of Midlands Tech and said this expands the possibilities for those who are in the program.
“So what’s unique is that originally it was designed for a traditional two year technical college," said Rhames. "And now we’re talking about a partnership that going to expand beyond the two year technical college mission into a four year process that’s going to allow us to produce more teacher for our community.”
Barrie Kirk is the provost at Midlands Technical College and said this center will help with education in rural communities.
"So we know that there's a shortage across the region, the state, the nation,” said Kirk. “But we know that the rural communities are hurting the most. So until we can lift education everywhere, we got a lot of work to do."
The Center of Excellence for Educator Preparation and Innovation at Voorhees was founded in 2021.