Dr. Mary Hilaire Tavenner is a Compass Instructor at Lorain County Community College’s Learning Center at St. Joseph Community Center. “The learning center in Lorain,” said Tavenner, “is more important than I could express. When the education comes to you, you can’t miss it.”
In the fall of 2001, LCCC opened the Learning Center on the corner of West 21st Street and Broadway and 112 students enrolled that first semester. Today, 618 are enrolled for spring semester.
The Learning Center offers every service to students that main campus does. Tavenner teaches the English tutoring session for students who are trying to improve their COMPASS score. COMPASS is an assessment of reading, writing and math skills for students attending college for the first time. It also is an aid for students who are pursuing their GED. Tavenner, no doubt, serves a vital role in the lives of these students. She, however, sees her role in a different light. “It is a privilege for me to be a minute in their life,” said the 60-year-old former nun, “a class in their life, a moment in their life. They inspire me.”
A large number of the students under the tutelage of Tavenner come from very challenging backgrounds. “We get students,” Tavenner continued, “who need a GED. We help them and we encourage them to learn even more. LCCC is that gift to us that helps us to find a way.”
Tavenner grew up in Lorain. She attended Emerson Elementary School. Her father worked in the mills and her mother was a nurses aide at St. Joseph Hospital; the very building the daughter now works as a teacher. Teaching is “a life calling,” she said.
Lorain County Community College’s Learning Center at St. Joseph Community Center is one of three LCCC branch campuses. The Wellington Center and the Midpoint Campus Center in Brunswick are the other two satellite locations.
If you are interested in any of the LCCC branch campuses, please click here