Photo Provided/Clarendon Citizen - Members of the 2011 Project Overall Gains class sponsored by A New Day.
Significant Achievers
A little more than six years ago a group of 17 Clarendon County residents formed a committee to award black students in the county’s three districts for significant academic gains.
A New Day – AND – was founded.
In May 2010, AND recognized 84 students throughout the county plus one student from Clarendon School District 3 posthumously for academic improvements in the 2009-2010 academic year.
Raheem Pearson, a senior at East Clarendon High School, was killed in a traffic accident in September, 2010.
“Mr. Pearson was an honor student at East Clarendon,” said George Frierson, a founding member of AND. “We believed he was a great example of what our organization wanted to recognize.”
The students were recognized at a special ceremony held May 22, 2010, at Taw Caw Baptist Church in Summerton.
The guest speaker for the occasion was Rep. Kevin Johnson (D-Manning).
“Each student received a certificate honoring their achievement,” Frierson said. “They can add the certificate to their college portfolio which could assist them in getting into college.”
The students are selected based on their current grade point average compared to their past grade point average.
“The students that are selected may not be high flyers or achievers,” Frierson said. “But they did show marked improvement in their prior grade average.”
“Our motto is ‘Encouraging and Empowering,’” Frierson added. “Hopefully, that’s what our organization does for these students. They might not be on the A list or the A-B honor roll, but they have shown significant academic gains and that’s what counts.”
The list of honorees at times includes students who have been recognized before, Frierson said.
“In our program, we have a list of repeaters and a list of honorees,” he said. “We also mention past-honorees and students who are honorable mentions.”
A firm date has not been selected for the 2012 ceremony, Frierson said.
“It should be the third or fourth Sunday in May,” he added. “We’re not sure on the date right now.”
