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Churches Push for College in Education Summit
15,000 Degrees for Blacks is Local Goal
Churches can play a significant role in improving the number of African Americans in Louisville with college degrees — from partnering with schools to raising expectations among their congregants — pastors told the Louisville Urban League’s annual Education Summit (Louisville, Kentucky). The pastors spoke Saturday during a panel discussion on churches’ efforts to improve college attainment, the focus of the 2012 Education Summit at Central High School. Their aim, they said, was to support the 15,000 Degrees Initiative, which seeks to help 15,000 African Americans in Louisville get a college degree by 2020, said Rae Helton, the initiative’s coordinator.
“All good things in the African-American community started in churches,” said the Rev. Angela French-Coles, the panel moderator who is also associate pastor of Phillips Memorial CME Church and principal of Audubon Traditional Elementary School. “It’s very important for churches to be involved in this effort for it to be successful.”
The panelists touted a new Faith Action Toolkit — disseminated at the summit — that offers guidance and strategies to churches in steering congregants to college. Fourteen percent of African Americans of working age in Louisville have college degrees, ranking the city last among its peer cities, Helton said. The 15,000 Degrees Initiative, organized in conjunction with the citywide 55,000 Degrees effort, aims to improve Louisville’s ranking at least to the middle of the pack, Helton said.
The Rev. Marcia J. Cole Morton, of Spradling Memorial AME Zion Church, said during the panel discussion that churches can help by encouraging adults who had dropped out before high school graduation to pursue General Educational Development certification. That can help their own children, in turn, stay engaged in their education, Morton said. “They say, ‘If Mommy can do it, I can do it,’ ” Morton said.
But she recognized adults are often intimidated by the prospect of returning to school. The Rev. Geoffrey Ellis, of Greater St. James AME Church, said churches can encourage educational attainment by reaching children when they are young through Sunday school programs.
To read the full article, please visit: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120317/NEWS01/303170097/louisville-urban-league-education-summit?odyssey=nav%7Chead
