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YWCA Teen moms education

Many teenage mothers who have dropped out of high school and live in poverty likely have their hands full providing for their children. Pondering the ideas of ancient philosophers and writing essays about art history may be low on the priority list for many of them. But that's what teenage mothers and other women living in poverty do twice a week at The Care Center in Holyoke, Mass., as students of The Clemente Course in the Humanities.

Many teenage mothers who have dropped out of high school and live in poverty likely have their hands full providing for their children. Pondering the ideas of ancient philosophers and writing essays about art history may be low on the priority list for many of them. But that's what teenage mothers and other women living in poverty do twice a week at The Care Center in Holyoke, Mass., as students of The Clemente Course in the Humanities.

The course, named after baseball player and humanitarian Roberto Clemente, was developed in 1995 in New York to teach college-level humanities courses to people living in poverty. Students who may not have otherwise been able to afford college courses learn about moral philosophy, literature, history, art history, critical thinking, and writing for free in classes taught by instructors from nearby universities.