Five CMS students named REACH scholars

On Wednesday, September 24, the Coffee County School system was proud to participate in the first REACH Georgia signing ceremony on the campus of Coffee Middle School.  

Mrs. Sherri Berry, Principal of Coffee Middle School, welcomed everyone to the program and expressed her enthusiasm for the program and the opportunities it will now provide to her current and future students.

During the ceremony, Dr. Morris Leis, Superintendent, announced the names of the following five current 8th grade students from Coffee Middle School as the first REACH Scholar recipients.   Jamahri Anderson, son of Charnita Anderson; Asia Davis, daughter of  Felicia Tims; Tamya Pope, daughter of Terrance and Pamela Pope; Tiffany Spruce, daughter of Danny and Jennifer Spruce and Nydia Swanson, daughter of Leslie Swanson.

First Lady of Georgia, Mrs. Nathan Deal, served as the systems special guest to personally congratulate the students.

What is REACH?

Representing - Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen, is a needs-based scholarship designed to ensure that Georgia’s academically promising students have the academic, social, and financial support needed to graduate from high school and complete college, it serves as a mentoring and scholarship program.  REACH Georgia is a key component of Governor Deal’s Complete College Georgia initiative, which calls for and identifies strategies for the state’s public and private colleges to add an additional 250,000 college graduates by 2020 and ensure these students graduate with relevant postsecondary degrees in a timely manner.

Once selected, REACH Scholars are paired with a mentor and an academic coach through high school.  The student must maintain good behavior, good grades (2.5 GPA in core courses), good attendance and graduate from high school.  Scholars who successfully complete the program and graduate from high school are awarded up to a $10,000 scholarship that can be used at any HOPE eligible college in Georgia.  Many colleges are matching or doubling the scholarship amount.

In addition to the announcement of the first REACH Scholars, the school system recognized five community partners who invested $1,500 towards the return investment of $10,000.  Those in attendance were Scott Miller, President of Colony Bank; Gary Evans from Southwire and Andrea Taylor from the Coffee County Chamber of Commerce, representing the Douglas Area Employer Committee; Kirk Farrar, Matt Hennesy, and Drew Tanner representing Farrar, Hennesy and Tanner, Attorneys at Law; Dr. Greg Goggans, representing Fender-Goggans Orthodontics and Patrick Ferris, attorney, representing the Douglas Rotary.

Governor Nathan Deal designated September 24th as the REACH Georgia Statewide Signing Day.  Coffee County Schools was proud to be one of 18 systems across Georgia selected to participate in this wonderful program for students.

-Submitted by the Coffee County Board of Education