UT's New KLASS Center Puts Learning Disabled Students First
Beethoven, Alexander Graham Bell, Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Louis Pasteur, George Patton, Leonardo da Vinci, and George Washington have something in common.
They all suffered from learning disabilities which they overcame during their lifetimes on their way to accomplish great things that have powerfully affected humankind.
Despite these stellar examples, children and young adults with learning disabilities are challenged to be successful in school. Learning disabilities can create barriers that limit achievement. Learning disabilities range from reading and writing difficulties, poor visual and spatial skills, speech and language disorders, difficulty with math, speaking and listening disorders, memory and social skills deficiencies, and auditory processing disorders that make it difficult for an individual to comprehend more than one task at a time.
The National Longitudinal Study found that 35 percent of learning disabled students drop out of high school. In 2001 the Health Resource Center determined that 40 percent of full-time college freshmen reported they had some type of learning disorder. The state of Florida’s “Bridges to Practice” study in 2003 found that 43 percent of the learning disabled live below the poverty line.
Instead of being overwhelmed by the scope of this issue, Pam and Tom Korn of Vonore, Tennessee, decided to do something about it by making a $2 million gift to the University of Tennessee College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences. Their visionary gift will be used to establish the Korn Learning, Assessment, and Social Skills (KLASS) Center to help learning-challenged students. For the Korns, this issue is a personal matter since their son, Kyle, now an adult, had to overcome learning disabilities.
“We want to help the university reach those students who can easily fall through the cracks of our educational system when they don’t get the assistance they need,” the Korns said in a statement. “We also hope the center will help future teachers and administrators become more aware of the needs of these students and the best ways to serve them.”
Before retiring in 2003, Tom Korn was the founder and CEO of Premier Concepts, a sales and marketing company based in Bentonville, Arkansas. Pam Korn retired in 2000 after 32 years as an international flight attendant for Delta Air Lines. The Korns moved to Rarity Bay from Germantown, Tennessee, in 2005. They are board members of the Monroe County Boys and Girls Club and are co-directors of the Thomas and Pamela Korn Family Foundation.
The KLASS Center will provide services to students from preschool to college who need help mastering the academic and social skills required to succeed in school. It will serve as a research center where UT faculty and students can develop and evaluate services that support educational and professional success.
Faculty and doctoral students in the school psychology program in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling will work at the center. Department head Steve McCallum says, “We anticipate growing the KLASS Center through these activities and particularly through the pursuit of additional funding.”
“The earlier a child’s problems are identified and addressed, the more likely we are to prevent more serious problems later in life,” explains Chris Skinner, UT professor and coordinator of the school psychology program.
“I am grateful Pam and Tom Korn for their incredible gift and support,” says Bob Rider, dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. “It is through the generosity of people like the Korns that we are better able to fulfill the mission of our college and the hopes of our faculty and students.”
- Originally Published in UT Gratia publication
