I wrote the following article for Abundant Life's Winter 2015 newsletter. You may view the full newsletter here.
When the satisfied parent of a Clayborne Education customer
approached its founder and longtime Abundant Life volunteer Clay Daniel about
funding a scholarship for a student less able to afford personalized test prep
services, Daniel didn’t hesitate. He contacted
Strive coordinators Dylan Rosenthal and Richard Feero and asked if there was a
senior in the mentoring program who could benefit from such an offer.
Dylan and Richard identified Hannibal “Hamp” Reid, a responsible
but slightly below average student who had seen his grades rise modestly after
his first year in Strive. Dylan approached Hannibal and his parents about
Clayborne’s offer: two diagnostic tests and ten tutoring sessions, valued at
$900, completely free thanks to the generosity of an anonymous foundation. Facing
the prospect of giving up his free time on Saturdays, Hannibal weighed the offer
but decided to embrace the challenge.
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| Hannibal, Malik, and LA, three of Strive's five Class of 2015 seniors, at Charlottesville High School's graduation. |
Hannibal started with Clayborne in the fall of 2014 by
taking both a practice SAT and ACT, to see which test played better to his
strengths. Clayborne determined that Hannibal was better suited for the ACT,
and his subsequent tutoring sessions focused on its material and strategies.
After the completion of the course in December, Hannibal took the ACT. His
progress was stunning; he improved by four points, which is the equivalent of
180 points on the SAT!
Armed with his higher ACT score and earning his best grades
yet in high school with the support of his Strive mentor Jed Metge, Hannibal
applied to Virginia Union University, Ferrum University, and his dream school,
Old Dominion University. Hannibal
received acceptances to each one, except ODU, where he was waitlisted. His
prayers were answered when a month later he received admittance to Old
Dominion!
As Metge recalls, "We had been meeting every week for months,
and each week we would pray for college applications: to trust God with the
process and to ask Him to open doors. So to be with Hamp and his family after
the acceptance letter came from ODU was a joy that is hard to capture. But what
will stick with me forever was being with Hamp as he articulated -- God
made this happen. God heard and answered me."
Now enjoying his first semester of college, Hannibal says, “Thanks
to Strive, I have learned to become a very organized individual. Clayborne gave me the confidence and
preparation I needed to become successful.
I would not have found Clayborne without Strive.”
Says Daniel, himself a Strive mentor: "It was a great
pleasure to see the way Hannibal took to the skills and strategies I imparted
to him. He is a bright kid with great promise, and just needed some familiarity
with the way standardized tests present their content. I'm grateful to have
helped such a tremendous young man, and I look forward to more opportunities to
help Strive students achieve their dreams."
Pleased with the outcome of Hannibal’s scholarship, the foundation
has again offered a scholarship for Clayborne services to a Strive student. We
hope that this unique three-way partnership between CALM, Clayborne, and the foundation
continues bearing fruit for years to come.
