Boys & Girls Club of the Heartland and Three Rivers College both plan to expand the collaborative Great Futures Program.
The program brings high school students into TRC college courses at no cost, helping participants graduate high school with up to 18 college credits or electrical process technician certification, along with a chance at scholarships to Missouri State University. These technician jobs alone pay $40,000 to start plus benefits, explained Boys and Girls Club CEO Chris Rushin.
“Our goal as it relates to Three Rivers College: I want our kids throughout Southeast Missouri to wear this place out. That’s what it’s here for. This is the key for us to break the cycle of poverty,” Rushin told the TRC board on Wednesday at their monthly meeting.
Doniphan and Neelyville schools are already taking advantage of the program, Rushin said. Now, BGC is inviting schools from as far as Puxico, Van Buren and Piggott, Arkansas, to join by busing their high school students to central locations for BGC trolleys to pick them up.
“Doniphan brings them over to the Hillview site, where we’re currently running a K-8 program. We’ll bring them on into the college on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We want to do the exact same situation with some of the schools in the hills,” Rushin explained.
“This has been a great partnership between Boys & Girls Club and the college. We’re just really at the very beginning, this has somewhat of an unlimited future that we can achieve,” said TRC President Dr. Wesley Payne. “There’s lots of plans on expanding the programming and giving some options to different kids who have different interests.”
In financial news, Payne said the college remains in a good position, especially since enrollment is on the rise for the first time in a decade.
“That put us ahead even though we had budgeted to be down,” he explained.
He also reported record numbers for the Poplar Bluff Trivia Night; 23 teams registered and raised a total of $3,300 for student scholarships.