Ridgeville (South Carolina) church will use grant to propel kids to college

GoUpstate.com
From staff reports
Published: Monday, April 12, 2010 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 11:28 p.m.

From staff reports


The Summer Enrichment program at Ridgeville Baptist Church in Inman has received a $20,000 grant from the Clemson Compassion Project to improve student achievement and better prepare children in Spartanburg County Districts 1 and 2 for college.

Awarded through the Spartanburg County Foundation, the grant targets at-risk youths from grades K-12 who are experiencing problems with mastering core skills in primary subject areas.

A state-of-the-art computer lab will be established, and the grant also will provide workshops on preparing for and going to college, while staff and volunteers will be able to receive training. The grant also will expand the number of students served and the length of time of the program.

"We applied for this grant because statistics show that Spartanburg County has less minorities who have earned a bachelor's degree than any county in the state," Ridgeville Pastor Amos Durham said. "This program will allow our children to meet those standards to get into college because there are two debates going on: One school of thought is that we should lower the standards in order to get African-Americans and the minority community children into college; the other opinion is that we should keep the standards where they are and raise our children up to meet those standards, and that's what this program does.

"It's a wonderful program, and receiving this grant will allow us to really enhance what we're trying to do."

The program's executive director, Della Ann Frye, meanwhile, received more good news on Sunday when she was named this year's recipient of the lieutenant governor's Palmetto Patriot Award -- the highest honor given by the lieutenant governor.

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, the keynote speaker at an event at the church Sunday morning celebrating the Clemson grant, presented Frye with the award in honor of Frye's lifetime service to education and the community.

Frye said she had no idea she was being given the award until Bauer called her name.
"I feel very honored to even be considered for this, and for it to be played out in this setting today; it was just very humbling," Frye said.

Durham said Frye spearheaded the Summer Enrichment program, leading a team of grant writers that conducted the research helped the program get the prestigious grant.

"We have been getting a lot of support recently, and this is just going to bring even more," said Frye, who added that teachers in the district and other members of the community have offered to volunteer their time for the program. "We're just getting all kinds of support -- everybody wants to be a part of it because they believe in the education of our youth. It's just phenomenal the response that we're getting."