To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

CHARLOTTE--Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers and staff members are discussing strategies for academic achievement. They met at Johnson C. Smith University to launch the L.I.F.T. Institute.

It is part of Project L.I.F.T., the district's effort to provide teachers with better preparation to serve students in nine schools in Charlotte's west corridor.

Over the next week and a half, these teachers will collaborate on how to motivate and how to build better relationships with students in poverty through literacy and technology.

"You want to reach each person in a different way, and sometimes when you have 15 or 20 students in your class or more, you have to find a way to connect with each one of those students,” said Brianne Vincent, teacher at Thomasboro Academy. “And that in itself can be challenging, no matter where they come from."

Representatives from United Way and Crisis Assistance Ministry will help facilitate some of the sessions on the impact of poverty in education.