Project Opportunity committee records

Project Opportunity was a joint project between UNC Charlotte and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS). The program began on campus in 1969. It's goals were to identify, support, and enrich the lives of middle school children from "inner city" Charlotte (specifically, Irwin Junior High School); to provide an in-service learning experience for CMS teachers; to begin a program of pre-service experience for UNCC education students; to introduce UNCC to underserved communities; and to serve as a partnership opportunity between UNCC and CMS.

The program was a four-week summer learning experience, in which middle school students were brought to UNCC's campus to attend daily class sessions and participate in activities that provided "stimulation and enrichment". In addition to basic school curriculum, enrichment topics included French, African art, dancing, music history, bridge lessons, computer science, and baton twirling. Student teachers were selected from UNCC and other Charlote Area Consortium schools. According to planning documents, "a real effort would be made to have one Black and one white student aide in each class."

The first year of the program, all of the participating students were black. In 1970, the program was a mix of 19 white and 28 Black students. That year the program became an overnight experience. Students and counselors were housed in UNCC residence halls for the duration of the program.

The program had multiple funding sources, such as grants from the Ford Foundation and UNCC Foundation, and financial contributions made by many local churches.

Joyce Sparks of CMS and Loy Witherspoon of UNCC provided professional assistance and direction to the program.