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Girls Summit brings out Sussex County crowd

Resilience stressed to about 300 participants
November 23, 2017

Cape High senior Taylor Morgan, 17, said she has learned a lot by attending the Girls Summit in Sussex County.

“Each year it's a different aspect,” she said.

Taylor was one of 300 who attended the summit Nov. 2 in Georgetown. Taylor said she plans to study embryology at Old Dominion University. Speakers throughout the day-long event helped motivate her and others on the cusp of their college years.

Taylor's classmate Tamia Bonville, 17, said she was hoping to get some tips on college during the summit. She is considering Old Dominion University where she would major in psychology.

“I like the advice that the speakers give,” she said. “I also like hearing about their personal experiences.

During the morning session, a series of speakers spoke about overcoming challenges, staying positive and moving forward.

Shefon Taylor, coordinator of marketing and special projects for the City of Wilmington, looked out on the audience and said she saw a lot of her younger self.

Growing up in Wilmington, she said she was raised by her grandmother and did not go to college right away. She said she had a child, whose father was absent, but she persevered to improve her position in life.

“We know what the world says about us. About poor, little black girls with fathers in jail. That our mother's and father's stories become our own,” Taylor said.

She encouraged the girls to be resilient through all of life's ups and downs.

“Remember that your story is your story for a divine reason,” she said.

Fay Blake, executive director of Pathways to Success, started the Sussex County program in 2006.

Pathways to Success is a school-based program that focuses on tutoring girls in math, reading and English as well as teaching them study habits for success in college. The program is offered in schools across Sussex County including Cape High, Sussex Tech and Seaford.

“We provide coaching and mentoring so they have a positive outlook,” Blake said. “They learn things that they need to know.”

Cape High senior Keeana Loper, 17, said she received help during after-school sessions with her college applications. Now, she said, she looks forward to freshman year at Hampton University.

“It's very productive. We're all working on something we need to do,” she said.

Makayla Cannon, 17, said Cape High's Pathways to Success has 15 girls who have pushed each other academically. She said she has learned study habits that she'll use at Lincoln University where she will major in business.

“It gave me the opportunity to work with people who have the same goals,” said Makayla.

But it's not all business, she said. Makayla said the group covers a wide array of topics when they are together.

“We talk about real-life situations that are going on in the world,” she said.

 

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