Area program receives state award in effort to prepare youth for higher education

A program that helps prepare area students for college has been recognized with a state award.

The Boys and Girls Club of Poplar Bluff has received the 2019 Missouri Alliance Area Council Award for Outstanding Program.

The award was given Sept. 18 at the Boys and Girls Club Annual Hall of Fame Banquet in Springfield, Missouri.

The honor is for the College Kids program, according to a press release, which is conducted in partnership with Three Rivers College. It offers club youth the opportunity, at no cost to the student, to attend a specific TRC class in the fall and spring.

“Giving these students the opportunity to earn college credits and realize that a college education is attainable for them is something we are very proud to be part of,” said Dr. Wesley Payne, president of Three Rivers. “We hope their first college experiences here at Three Rivers inspire them to continue their education after high school.”

This effort was designed to help BGC students understand that a college education is something they can achieve and to help them develop a plan to become successful adults after they complete high school, according to organizers.

Students can attend the Academic Life Strategies class in the fall, and Computer Basics course in the spring.

BGC provides transportation, covers the cost of instructors, and pays for material fees, and Three Rivers waives the tuition fees for each student.

To date, 12 BGC students have completed 16 courses for college credits, and more students are taking classes now. Of those 12 BGC students, eight are first generation college students.

Members of Three Rivers College, Poplar Bluff R-I schools, and the Boys and Girls Club of Poplar Bluff attended the event, according to a press release.

The College Kids effort was an expansion in the fall of 2018 of an existing partnership between the organizations.

“We have an incredible relationship with Poplar Bluff R-1 Schools and our goal was to replicate that same kind of partnership with Three Rivers College. We have an amazing resource in TRC that allows our teen members to continue to thrive. Dr. Payne, Dr. (Justin) Hoggard, and Dr. (Leslie) Gragg along with our team committed themselves to ‘thinking outside of the box’ to make this incredible opportunity a reality,” said Chris Rushin, chief executive officer, Boys and Girls Club of Poplar Bluff.

TRC and BGC plan to continue the College Kids program indefinitely and are working on new ways to help BGC students receive college credits while still in high school.