Registration will be held Wednesday evening for a free tutoring program to be held in Jemison.

The program is for any school age children. Those interested should visit St. James Highland Bible Church, located in the old Jemison elementary building at 130 25th Street (across County Road 42 from its intersection with County Road 38), from 5-7 p.m.

Classes will last from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday evenings while school is in session. During the summer, classes will be held from 8 a.m. to noon four days a week.

Instruction will be given in math, reading and English from K-12 teachers in Chilton County and surrounding areas.

The tutoring program is part of the Center for Humanity and Revitalization of Community and Home.

Jemison Mayor Eddie Reed, who developed the CHURCH concept and has served as program director, said the program assists as many as 50 Chilton County children during the school year and as many as 80 during the summer.

“It’s a way to not allow them to spend so much time out of the classroom,” Reed said about the program’s mission of maintaining consistency in students’ schoolwork even after they leave school—for the day or for the summer. “We’ve had kids on the D, C level, and they’re on the honor roll now.”

Reed said a limit is placed on the number of students who can register so an ideal teacher-to-student ratio of 5:1 can be maintained.

“We want to keep it where the teachers can have that 1-on-1 instruction,” he said.

The tutoring program is funded entirely through state grants. It began as a project of the Pride of Jemison Masonic Lodge No. 630, of which Reed is a member.