A special appeal to area home schoolers needing to fulfill high school foreign language requirements is being made by Tennessee Bible College in Cookeville.

The college is offering a course in New Testament Greek beginning Sept. 8. Classes will be held Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. throughout the fall, winter and spring quarters.

Upon completion of the first course, TBC plans to offer a second year of Greek beginning in the fall of 2009, satisfying the two-year foreign language requirement for high school graduation while at the same time earning students college credits.

“We have offered Greek at Tennessee Bible College for years but never thought about encouraging home schoolers to enroll in the course,” said TBC dean Kerry Duke, who, along with his wife, LeAnn, home schooled their children.

“When our children were being home schooled, I taught them Greek as their foreign language,” Duke said.

He said of the TBC course: “This is New Testament Greek, not modern Greek. It’s called ‘koine’ Greek, which means ‘common.’ It’s the original language the New Testament was written in.”

New Testament Greek is open to students who are at least a junior in high school, including those in public and private high schools.

“This is just a good opportunity for homeschooling parents because their children need two years of a foreign language for high school,” Duke said. “And this course counts for college credit too.”

The fee for the first year is $120 per quarter, totaling $360, plus the cost of textbooks.

Class space is limited, so prospective students are encouraged to enroll as soon as possible.

For more information, visit www.tn-biblecollege.edu, e-mail tbc@tn-biblecollege.edu or call (931)526-2616.