Michael Neary / The Meridian StarLisa Rhodes, left, chairwoman of the Division of Languages and Literature at Meridian Community College, works with Angelica Killen on an office project. Last year Killen successfully completed lessons in the Summer Bridge Program, which Rhodes co-teaches.

One key lesson Lisa Rhodes hopes new college students can learn is that there’s no harm in seeking out some academic help.

“You come in that first year and think, ‘I’m not where a lot of other people are, and I wish I was,’” said Rhodes, chairwoman of the Division of Language and Literature at Meridian Community College.

Then, she said, students in that situation can seek out a remedy.

Rhodes is getting ready to help students make the transition from high school to college over the next two weeks when she and Robert Fowler teach lessons, through the college’s Summer Bridge Program, designed to help students hone their English skills.

The course includes segments focusing on grammar and writing, with students working on topic sentences and paragraph development — and then striving to write complete, well-organized essays. Fowler focuses on the grammar, Rhodes said, while she helps students dig into the writing-related tasks.

The classes, which begin on Monday, are free — and they are funded through a gift from David Quave, who graduated in 1963 from what was then Meridian Junior College. Quave, who made a gift of $1 million to the college, designated a portion of the gift to help students struggling with English, Rhodes explained. The Division of Language and Literature put the gift to use in 2015 by creating a tutoring program devoted specifically to English assignments and setting up the Bridge Program, which debuted last summer.

Rhodes said the Bridge Program session is presented for two audiences. She said it’s open to anyone seeking help in English, including those in the community outside of MCC. She said it’s also designed especially for students who nearly qualified for first-year composition but whose ACT score dipped just below the necessary mark.

Last summer, Rhodes said, of the 33 students who passed the Summer Bridge class for academic purposes, 20 made a C or higher in first-semester English composition without having to take any additional developmental classes.

For 19-year-old second-year student Angelica Killen, who took the class last year, the individual help was especially valuable.

“It was hands-on,” said Killen, who graduated from Russell Christian Academy in 2016. “If I needed help on a topic sentence, Ms. Rhodes would come and help me on it.”

Killen said Fowler helped her, with the assistance of a computer program, with her grammar.

And Killen said her mother decided, in the spirit of competition, to take the class with her.

“I actually sat in front of her,” Killen said.

For Rhodes, exploring the value of developmental classes plays a role in her own education as she pursues her Ph.D. in Community College Leadership at Mississippi State University. As part of her studies, she’s analyzed data about developmental education at MCC. In a policy brief, she reported that 6,323 students took developmental courses from 2011 through 2014. Of those students, she noted that 2,723 were awarded degrees — degrees, she concluded, that significantly increased their earning potential.

“If developmental education were no longer available, I would be afraid that people who needed it would either not come, or be placed into a college-level class and not be successful,” she said. “My opinion is that it’s worth the money to invest in our community.”

Rhodes said that she, herself, needed to take developmental math in college.

“I tell my students about that,” she said. “I want them to understand that there’s nothing wrong with having to have a little extra help. I was there.”

The need for help in college can be compounded by the fact that once students enter college, the structure of high school gives way to a new — and sometimes frightening — freedom.

“In college, you’re on your own,” Killen said. “When you get done with class and your work, you leave. What you work on later is you.”

That doesn’t mean there isn’t help, Killen said, but it’s ultimately the students’ choice.

“In college, not all students take the help,” she said.

Killen said she plans to continue her education at the University of Southern Mississippi, and to study law, after she graduates from MCC.

People interested in more information about the Summer Bridge Program, which is accepting students, can go to https://tinyurl.com/y856bezy or call MCC at 601-483-8241.