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Wlaf1450By Charlotte Underwood
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- Campbell County Rotarians heard a presentation from Campbell County Christian Learning Center (CLC) Director Stephanie Lloyd-Hester on Tuesday at the club’s Luncheon held at the LaFollette Methodist Church.
TOP PHOTO: The Director of the Campbell County Christian Learning Center Stephanie Lloyd-Hester guest spoke at Rotary on Tuesday.
Lloyd-Hester started with the learning center in 2019, around a year after it opened and has been the director the “past several years.”
She provided some background on the CLC, which opened in 2018 and is hosted at Hillcrest Baptist Church.
The program started at Campbell County High School and plans to expand to Jellico High School this school year. The program is made possible through release time.
According to Lloyd-Hester, release time happens with parents permission for students to be released to off site religious courses. Any release time program in the U.S has to take place off school property and has to have parent permission. It is non funded by tax payers. It is completely private donor funded.
“This is legal across the United States; some states have put laws in place. We were able to work with our representatives and in 2023 the legislature passed a law allowing local school boards to give credit for the courses. We have been blessed that the Campbell County School Board has worked with us on this,” Lloyd-Hester said.
The Campbell County CLC offers two courses, introduction to Old Testament and Introduction to New Testament.
This year the learning center is restarting a course that Lynn Ray used to teach called Biblical World View.
Student enrollment at the CLC has grown in the eight years since the program began.
The first three years averaged 15 to 20 students per semester and has grown to average 40 to 50 students per semester.
“We are excited to expand to Jellico High School and will be hosted by Jellico First Baptist Church. With the addition of our Biblical World View class for advanced students, that will also help us grow,” Lloyd-Hester said.
Many of the students served by the CLC “come ftom different backgrounds.”
“Some are non-believers, some non-Church goers, some skeptics, we try to welcome all… we are trying to teach them to have healthy conversations about faith, about moral issues,” Lloyd-Hester said.
She said it is about 50-50 of students that are “churched or unchurched” meaning they do or don’t attend church.
The CLC “tries to meet students where they are in their real world everyday and encourages those conversations with peers and mentor them along the way.”
The CLC is “excited to be opening up the second campus in Jellico.”
Jellico First Baptist is providing a classroom space and access to their church van to transport students.
“I have been a resident of Jellico for the last couple years and will be teaching that class and am excited about the days ahead,” Lloyd-Hester said.
Another exciting expansion comes with the addition of two new employees.
“As we are growing these programs, we are having to fundraise and we are so grateful we have been able to increase our staff,” Lloyd-Hester said.
Current staff includes Maria Roberts as the part time development director and Joy Longmire is the ministry assistant at the CCHS campus and also supports students.
“Our new staff is Aaron McLain who will be a full time teacher for the CLC at CCHS.
He previously taught high school Spanish and has Christian ministry experience and involvement in youth camps and programs. Katelyn Lane will serve as the ministry assistant for the Jellico campus. She is deeply invested in the Jellico community and in her church. We are excited to welcome them both,” Lloyd-Hester said.
She also thanked Rotarians for supporting the CLC over the past eight years.
She closed by speaking on the impact of the program going beyond Campbell County.
“This was the first kind of its program working for credits for students in Tennessee. Now there is a program in Farragut another for Bearden High School and another program starting in Claiborne County. We are grateful to see how it is growing beyond us. Students who don’t have the opportunity to go to church, they can still access this learning in a safe environment,” Lloyd-Hester said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-07/08/2026-6AM)