A program aimed at helping impoverished students in Clay County is hoping to expand. The Thompson Scholars Program is named after Aaron Thompson who is the current president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. Thompson said the program will give students opportunities he did not have growing up.
“Being African American during that time, going to segregated schools and fighting the legacy of racism and fighting the legacy of poverty was truly a situation where I had to figure out how to maneuver, in many cases, myself.”
The group was founded during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. The goal of the group is to offer children in an impoverished area a leg up academically. Thompson said the program focuses on more than just academics.
“It’s really designed to give them the academic, social, emotional and cultural experiences they would not receive otherwise. They’re mainly working with student of the Clay County community but its sooner or later expanded throughout Appalachia.”
The program is open to students who fall into disadvantaged categories such as belonging to a racial minority, experiencing poverty or being the first generation in their family to attend college. The students must also be in the 4th through 12th grade. You can find out more about the Thompson Scholars Program on Eastern Standard on WEKU.
