Timothy Holston has always had a knack for numbers, and he wants to use that skill to help young people.
So, starting today, the Mississippi Valley State University assistant professor is offering tutoring in math and computer science on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Itta Bena library. He is targeting students from grades 4 through 12 — although, if a parent came in asking for help for a younger child, he would oblige.
“I decided that I wanted to give back to the community by tutoring students,” he said, “because mathematics is probably one of the areas that most people have the most problems with.”
Holston, 40, was born in Quito, the son of Willie Holston and Tommie Gray. He grew up mainly in “the big suburb of Itta Bena” before returning to Quito, where he lives today.
He believes he inherited his math aptitude from his mother, and others in his family also have similar skills. He also has had a longtime interest in problem solving in general.
“I like to figure things out,” he said. “I like to find the best solution or a good solution. I like to take a solution and see if I can make it better.”
When he was a student at Leflore County High School, he first considered medicine as a career and then law — “I debate with the best of them” — before choosing to study computer science at Valley.
He wasn’t thinking about teaching while at the university, but he was inspired to pursue graduate studies at the encouragement of a professor from the University of Mississippi who had taught a professor of his, Dr. Constance Bland. So he enrolled in the master’s program at Ole Miss in 2000 and finished in 2002.
He hadn’t been outside of Itta Bena much, other than for some internships, but he found he liked Oxford.
“To me, Oxford is like a little bubble in the state,” he said. “They’re a little different than probably any other part of Mississippi that I’ve been around.”
He finished his course work and comprehensive exams about 10 years ago. He started work on his dissertation last year and successfully defended it this August.
He also has been teaching in Valley’s math and computer science department since 2004, so doing that and graduate work posed some challenges. For a while, he was driving back and forth between home and Oxford, adjusting his teaching schedule to fit his graduate studies; if his graduate classes met on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, he would set his Valley classes on Tuesday and Thursday.
It required a lot of work, but he said that once he sets a goal, he commits to it.
“Things I start, I like to finish,” he said. “So once I started down that path, it wouldn’t sit well with me until I finished it.”
It also helped to have support from others at Valley. “They worked with me a whole lot at Mississippi Valley so I could finish my degree,” he said. “I wouldn’t have it if they didn’t work with me, probably.”
He has taught at Valley continuously since 2004, and during that time he has introduced some new courses and modified existing ones. In addition to teaching about three classes a semester, he also is involved in grant writing.
But he wants to help younger students, too. Years ago, he tutored students at Leflore County and Amanda Elzy high schools who had trouble with the state tests, and he now tutors at the Onnie M. Elliott Community Service Center on Mondays and Wednesdays.
He said it’s worthwhile to help students reach their goals.
“I’m from the Mississippi Delta, so I have a vested interest in the people who are here,” he said.
He got the idea for his new tutoring program when his barber asked him whether he knew of any programs where parents could get help for their children. For his sessions in Itta Bena, parents are expected to stay, rather than just drop their kids off. That way, the parents are better equipped to help with homework if needed.
Valley students and staff members will be helping with the tutoring, which will be limited to math and computer science. “I don’t know if they want me to help them with English,” Holston said with a laugh. “I’m not guaranteed to know all the right answers for that.”
He has placed fliers around town about the sessions and worked to get the word out to the schools.
In his spare time, he enjoys traveling; he particularly likes going to New Orleans and visiting places he hasn’t seen. He also likes to express his thoughts through writing, including poetry.
Holston said he likes this area, particularly its pace, and plans to stay for a while and try to make a difference.
“I think that the Delta’s probably one of the best places to live,” he said. “I’ve had the opportunity to live other places; I said, ‘Nah, I like the slowness of the Delta.’”
•Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
