The Bib County County program, designed for mentoring and individual tutors for elementary school students, has returned to action thanks to a significant donation from a local attorney.
A $ 40,000 donation from Amy Wiseright of the Witherite Law Group provides support for the Tubman Museum’s extracurricular program until the end of the semester.
The program provides mentoring and individualized instruction in basic reading, writing, and math for elementary school students ages 5-12. According to a press release, it is open to students at Bib County Schools, where 71% of students are economically disadvantaged.
“It’s such a gift for us, and I just love to see these kids laugh and improve,” said Amy Whiterite, founder of Witherite Law Group, “and don’t improve because of negative motivation, but because of that positive reinforcement and people who believe. “
The program also introduces children to art history, which may have been cut off from local schools due to lack of funding, cultural activities and historical items in the museum.
“What really fills me and my family is when we reach out to communities that are often ignored or underestimated and invest resources in them,” Whiteritt said.
Whiterite hopes to expand the program to the high school level in the next few years and expand the program to other communities in Central Georgia.
“We usually start with elementary school and then try to follow these kids,” she said. “We are trying to expand our network wherever they go to high school and high school. This is always a growth plan. I would like to be able to jump in and do it all at once, but we need a little help from the community to go hand in hand to do it. ”
Give your whole life
She learned about the program while doing a radio commercial in Macon, and she was introduced to Harold Young, director of the museum Harriet Tubman. During the conversation, Young said the museum had to cancel the program due to lack of funding. After the July meeting, Wiseright said she and her partners would try to find partners who would match their contributions to the second semester of the program.
Atlanta’s Atlanta-based law firm attended the program and participated in after-school activities with children.
Whiterite started her law firm 20 years ago and is no stranger to philanthropy. She hails from Fort Worth, Texas, and graduated from the Texas School of Technology
“It started with a high school in Fort Worth called Dunbar High School,” she said. And we started doing $ 1,000 scholarships. We saw kids who were interviewed, or five who applied for a scholarship, all five got $ 1,000, and that was the first one we did, and then last year we just expanded between South Atlanta High School and High School Dunbar. “
The peculiarity of the scholarships that the firm issues to students is that they can be extended every year of college.
“I don’t think there are any restrictions other than the resources and funds available,” Whiterit said. “So I have no inclined restrictions on any program. I am just committed to doing as much good as possible in every place with every project that will be presented to us if we believe it is something we can take on. We want to do it well and right. “
She specifically invests in initiatives that help the further development of youth. Past donations include donations of $ 160,000 in college scholarships for alumni and alumni of Dunbar High School and $ 35,000 for Girls, Inc. Atlanta to create an after-school program for homeless girls living in long-stay facilities with their families.
As a foster parent, Witherite advocates helping other families, and donated a $ 10,000 check to the Willie Moore Foundation to help fund a documentary project to help more than 123,000 children currently on the system and wait to find them forever. family through adoption.
To help Harriet Tubman’s program, Wiseright said it would match every donated person to the program.
“Anyone in the community who can step up doesn’t care if it’s $ 5,” she said. “Or if you have a business that has $ 1,000 or $ 2,500 to contribute to this business, I will compare dollar for dollar. So we will continue this and I hope we will raise a lot of money because I would like it to go through the summer so that it can be a year-round program. ”
For more information on museum donations, visit tubmanmuseum.com.