Recently Carl Vierling, executive director of the Greater High Point Food Alliance, heard first-hand the impact Say Yes can have.
He was asked to speak to a local church, and while waiting outside, he began a game of basketball with a young African American man. As they spoke, Carl learned that the young man is a 10th grade student at Southwest High School in High Point. Carl asked if he had heard of Say Yes to Education. His eyes got really big and he started smiling, saying that Say Yes would help him go to college. He asked the young man where he wanted to go to college, and his reply was Duke, because his teachers told him if he got his grades up just a bit he stood a good chance to get into the school. He told Carl that since he now has a chance of going to college he is going to work even harder to get good grades.
There are many students like this young man who now have a chance to break the cycle of poverty, Carl notes. It’s going to do great things for the county, he says…
To find out more about the incredible opportunities offered through Say Yes to Education, visit the Say Yes Guilford site.
