OUTLET: Suffolk News Herald
A major donation from a Suffolk company will help extend full-time college access services to a Suffolk high school.
The Birdsong Corp. has given $250,000 to the ACCESS College Foundation to bring the foundation’s services to King’s Fork High School on a full-time basis, ACCESS President and Chief Executive Officer Bonnie Sutton announced during a luncheon for Suffolk donors Wednesday at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts.
Each of the Suffolk public high schools currently has an ACCESS advisor who works at the school two or three days a week, splitting time with other schools or other foundation duties.
However, the Birdsong donation, which is for a five-year period, will bring an advisor to King’s Fork for every day of the week, Sutton said.
It’s part of the ACCESS initiative, College Changes Everything, which began a few years ago and aims to bring full-time advisors to the 16 schools most in need in the foundation’s service area, based on school size and the number of students who receive free and reduced lunch.
King’s Fork is No. 12, and Lakeland is next on the list, Sutton said. She hopes the expansion to Lakeland will take place in the next year or two.
The ACCESS College Foundation offers services for local students from middle school through college graduation. For high schoolers, services include free college visits, help with applying to college, assistance seeking out and applying for scholarships and other financial aid, applying for fee waivers for applications and admissions tests, and more.
Three seniors, one from each Suffolk school, shared their experiences with the foundation’s services during Wednesday’s event.
“I turned to ACCESS because I needed help,” said Azana Carr, a King’s Fork High School student who is considering a mass communications major at either Virginia Commonwealth University or the College of William & Mary.
Carr said her father had surgery while she was in high school, and the resulting bills burdened the family’s finances. But her ACCESS advisor, Adrienne Miller, helped her apply for application fee waivers. Carr also went on two college visit trips with ACCESS.
“I thank all of you for your continued support of the ACCESS College Foundation,” Carr said.
Paula Steward of Lakeland High School said her ACCESS advisor, Courtney Morris, helped her obtain the financial assistance she would need to attend college.
She called money the biggest consideration for the majority of hopeful college students and added, “ACCESS makes that huge problem a small hitch.”
“I am very thankful for ACCESS College Foundation,” she said. She plans to attend Virginia Commonwealth University and major in pre-medicine.
Demetrius Stitmon of Nansemond River High School said his ACCESS advisor, also Miller, registered him for the SAT the first day they met.
“I am very happy I had her to assist me during my college process,” Stitmon said. “My senior year would have been a lot more stressful if it hadn’t been for Mrs. Miller.”
Inspired by his grandfather’s love of cars, Stitmon plans to major in mechanical engineering at Old Dominion University, where he will also play football. His love of sports was inspired by his father, who died in 2014.
“He was my role model, and he showed me by example how to be a man,” Stitmon said.
In the 12 years since the program was expanded to Suffolk, more than 3,300 seniors have received assistance finding funding for college — about $34 million in total. About $565,000 in ACCESS “Last Dollar” scholarships have been awarded to Suffolk students.
ACCESS says 90 percent of its scholars graduate within six years, compared to the 52-percent national average.
Donors and supporters honored on Tuesday include BASF Corporation, Richard Bennett Trust, Birdsong Corp., Chorey and Associates Realty, Community Action Coalition of Virginia, Farmers Bank, Nansemond Charitable Foundation, Suffolk Public Schools, Suffolk Rotary Club, TowneBank and other individuals.
