NORFOLK, Va. — Twin sisters Brianna and Brittany Charity are seniors at Norfolk State University.
"The college experience has absolutely been great," Brianna said.
I feel like we've utilized a lot of our resources here at Norfolk State."
Life on and off campus has been busy for both Brianna and Brittany.
"We've worked full-time at Children's Harbor of Ghent," Brianna said. "We've also been a VCLA tutor to help our fellow classmates pass their teaching certification tests."
"We're also mentors for Norfolk State's [Classic] Upward Bound program," Brittany said.
The Charity sisters said it's part of maximizing their education. Now, they're helping others do the same.
Brittany and Brianna are tutors and mentors in a new program to help Virginia middle and high school students who have fallen behind.
"We want them to be successful. We want them to have a higher education. We want them to apply for those scholarships," Brittany said. "We want them to join those organizations and just be well-rounded, just like we are."
Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the program in November, which supports his plan to address what he called 'catastrophic learning loss' during the pandemic.
Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera said the plan comes after the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the 'Nation's Report Card'. The report was released in October 2022 and includes data for Virginia students dating back to 2019.
"We had the largest declines in our fourth graders in the country for both math and reading -- three times worse than the national average. And the national average was just awful," Guidera said.
"And the governor said we are on the cusp of losing an entire generation of children if we do not say, 'we must all work together to do something'."
As part of the governor's plan, he directed the Virginia Board of Education to raise expectations for students by the time they take their Standards of Learning tests in the spring. He also called for an overhaul of the state's school accreditation system.
The plan includes a $30 million investment in grants for tutoring, funding for teacher recruitment and retention efforts and $2 billion in remaining pandemic relief funds to be used for learning recovery.
Another part of the plan is a partnership with free educational resources Khan Academy and Schoolhouse.world, which will provide math tutoring and homework support.
Just days after the governor's plan was released, he announced the partnership between a handful of Virginia universities and the Urban Leagues of Hampton Roads and Greater Richmond.
Students from Norfolk State, Hampton, Christopher Newport, Virginia State and Virginia Union universities will work as tutors and mentors for middle and high school students in Hampton, Newport News, Portsmouth and Petersburg.
"This initiative just adds to what NSU has been doing for years," Dr. Denelle Wallace-Alexander said, the dean of the School of Education at Norfolk State University.
"We give back. It's not just about us wanting students to come to us. It's also about what our students can give to our community."
Wallace-Alexander said the program is an effective way to get Virginia students back on track.
"They may not have had the best instruction online, or they may not have had the access that everyone assumed everyone had," Wallace-Alexander said.
"Students learn best from people who understand and look like them. And so, our students are able to provide them with that support."
Urban League of Hampton Roads President and CEO Gilbert Bland said his team will help manage the program's tutoring and mentorship connections.
"It's the school systems that will select the students and the schools," Bland said.
"We will then coordinate and help to facilitate students to students."
Bland said the program aims to initially help around 500 middle and high schoolers and to grow that number to around 2,500 in the near future.
"The program has the potential to be the prototype for the rest of the commonwealth as well as the nation," Bland said.
"Education is a gateway to all opportunities. You know, it turns on a light for people to explore and hopefully reach their best potential."
The program's mission is for Virginia children to achieve success in the classroom and beyond -- with college students, like Brianna and Brittany, guiding the way.
"Some students don't even believe that they can graduate," Brittany said. "So, just seeing that, 'Oh, yes, I did it, and I know I can do it. I finally reached that goal'-- that's the ultimate goal."
"Starting from the bottom and actually making baby steps to move forward... if that's all they get is growth, then I'm happy," Brianna said.
If your middle or high school student is in one of the participating school divisions and you want them to take part in the program, get in touch with the Urban League of Hampton Roads or Greater Richmond.
The Urban League of Hampton Roads plans to expand the program to the Norfolk school division in the coming months.
To express interest in the program coming to your school division, reach out to Secretary Guidera's office.