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A foundation dedicated to improving academic and economic outcomes in rural Clarendon County, South Carolina is celebrating the opening of a new academic center in the heart of the Palmetto State’s “Corridor of Shame.”
The Briggs DeLaine Pearson Foundation – which exists to “facilitate the educational, social and physical well-being of under-resourced children and families” in Clarendon County – invited the public to attend an open house at its new 4,000-square foot facility this coming Saturday (May 24, 2025) between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. EDT.
“The center will provide after-school mentoring, homework help, vocational opportunities, counseling and nutritious meals for students of all ages,” a release from the foundation noted.
Those objectives are in keeping the foundation’s overall mission to “mentor, teach and feed new generations of students.”
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Located at 9355 Alex Harvin Highway – next to the Dr. Rose H. Wilder Elementary and Scotts Branch High School – the facility aims to assist students in the region, the vast majority of whom are black, impoverished and underperforming academically. Students and Scotts Branch rank 40% proficient in mathematics and 63% proficient in reading, according to the foundation.
“There is potential in every student,” said Marguirite DeLaine, a retired South Carolina school teacher and the chair of the foundation board. “Our faith and possibilities keep us going. They always have. We have a tradition of rolling up of our sleeves, addressing education ourselves, instead of throwing up our hands.”
According to DeLaine, the “Corridor of Shame” continues to struggle but – in her words – “hope reigns.”
“Meaningful change is underway,” DeLaine noted, citing the foundation’s board of educators, professionals, attorneys and physicians – a group which includes many individuals who “were raised in rural Clarendon County and benefitted from strong families and mentors.”
“We are the pebble thrown into a pond,” she said. “The ripples of this work will spread in all directions.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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3 comments
I hope this helps. How long have we been throwing money at the corridor of shame? Unless something changes at home whatever the schools try is going to be secondary.
More money wasted by people who think education can be fixed by throwing money at it. Graduation rates and drop out rates won’t change.
LOOK AT THE PHOTO THEN TELL ME WHY