New Grants Help College-Prep Non-Profit Expand Reach

Helping Teens Succeed, Inc., a Georgia non-profit that develops college transition programs for low-income students, announces new board officers, strategic plans, and recent grants.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) January 8, 2005 -- Helping Teens Succeed, Inc., a Georgia non-profit that develops college transition programs for low-income students, announces the awarding of two major grants. The Lumina Foundation for Education has awarded HTS $201,700 over two years to expand and strengthen the network of high schools offering College Transitions. The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation has made a one year grant of $200,000 to establish partnerships and other relationships that will benefit Helping Teens Succeed.
   
These grants follow the election of new leadership for the organizations board of directors. Georgia-Pacific Corporations Mark Anthony Thomas, senior coordinator for community programs, has been elected President of the Board of Directors. Other executive officers include Vice President Trina Johns, community volunteer, Secretary Andy Altizer, planner for the Georgia Emergency Management, and Treasurer Michael Hudson, with SunTrust Merchant Services.
   
It is gratifying to have these two highly respected foundations recognize the important work that HTS is doing in helping low income students navigate the path to college," said Emily Stewart, HTS executive director.
   
HTS was established in 1997 by Deborah Insel, a then-local high school teacher, to provide support and resources for inner city high schools in their postsecondary education pursuits. In 2002, Helping Teens Succeed received a major grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the Georgia Board of Regents to place the College Transitions class in up to 50 high schools throughout the state of Georgia by this school year. In 2003 Helping Teens Succeed opened an office in Washington, D.C. to support eight public schools.
   
Over the next few years, HTS plans to expand its relationship with Atlanta Public Schools, increase partnership activities with Communities In Schools of Georgia, Inc. through their Performance Learning Centers, and add a parent component to its curriculum.
   
Georgia is in need of creative programs to help address social and academic issues plaguing the education system. The state ranks 49th in the nation in student SAT scores. African American males graduated at a rate of only 33 percent within four years. The HTS programs in Atlanta Public Schools improved participants SAT scores by an average of 60 points and empowered 85 percent of them to go to college.

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