LAURINBURG — With a heart for students and the future of Scotland County, Carolyn Banks visited the Rotary Club on Tuesday to tell what Partners in Ministry is doing to assist both.
“I share the many concerns for the youth of Scotland County,” she said.
Banks, who is the SYSTEM director for Partners in Ministry and serves on the Scotland County Board of Education, is a county native whose career began in Hoke County and lasted 20 years before she returned home as a STEM teacher.
“Because of what I was doing, I met a lot of people interested in technology,” she said. “And when I retired a few years ago, I became the director for Partners in Ministry, and it’s been very rewarding to help students here.”
With a staff of 40, Banks said Partners in Ministry offers local students numerous resources, including an opportunity for children to come to a safe place for a meal, to do homework and other activities.
“We partner with Scotland County Schools, and we try to tell students that where they come from doesn’t determine their future,” she added. “We want them to think big.”
Banks then told the group about what she described as “the best-kept secret in Scotland County.”
On Nov. 9, Partners in Ministry will receive the National Mission Institute Recognition — one of only 50 such designations in the nation — and the public is invited to attend the ceremony from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at its facility located at 12 Third St. in East Laurinburg.
That facility was also discussed Tuesday.
With 200-plus students in the Partners in Ministry program at the old East Laurinburg School, and with a capacity for 300, the organization is in the process of building a larger facility. The organization is also looking to add more students.
“We’re trying to create more interest in STEM, and we are doing that by connecting everything to the real world,” she said.
Another area the group gets students involved is through a community garden, where students do all the planting, caring for and harvesting of the gardens. But Hurricane Florence wiped out those gardens, and students are hoping to rebuild them.
On Thursday at 4:30 at the Partners in Ministry location, the group will celebrate the “Lights On At The Schools” national event with special guests, and the community is invited.
Anyone wanting to volunteer with Partners in Ministry or donate monetarily can do so by contacting the organization at 910-277-3355, email Executive Director Melba McCallum at mmccallum@nccumc.org or stop by the offices in East Laurinburg.
W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-506-3023 or cvincent@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.
