W.A. Foster Center hosts back-to-school event for area students
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on August 20, 2017 1:45 AM
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News-Argus/ETHAN SMITH
Messiah Rivers, 4, gets ready to throw a ball during a dodgeball tournament at the W.A. Foster Center Saturday. The tournament was part of a wide-array of events during a back-to-school event at the recreational facility.
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News-Argus/ETHAN SMITH
Tyjayvion Johnson, 5, cocks back for a throw during a dodgeball tournament Saturday. The tournament was part of a back to school event at the W.A. Foster center.
Going back to school is right around the corner for children.
That means supplies are needed, but also means that summer -- and the chance to have a little fun -- is drawing to a close.
Community leaders hosted a back-to-school bonanza Saturday at the W.A. Foster Center that accomplished both of those, with a twist -- while children got supplies and let loose and played games, they also got some valuable life advice.
Simone Taylor, secretary of Inspiring Hope Group, Inc., said she decided to get involved in helping children after working in the mental health field for 25 years and seeing her nephew killed by street violence.
"When that happened, cause we never thought he would be killed in the streets or anything like that, I felt like this was my way of trying to reach out to a child that maybe would need some guidance, or to motivate them to do better and want to strive to have a better life, versus being in the streets and being in gangs," Taylor said.
Taylor's nephew, Laquan Devon Pearsall, was killed in September 2011. One man was arrested, charged and convicted for his involvement in the robbery-turned-murder. Another man was arrested and charged with murder after giving away too much information about his own involvement in the plot that led to Pearsall's killing during his testimony in the first man's trial.
These events, along with her own experience with children in the mental health field, is what Taylor said inspired her to get involved seven years ago.
And she hasn't been alone in lending a helping hand.
Marcus Smith said the goal of the event was to allow the children to do something constructive and receive mentorship from adults.
The young men got to play in a basketball tournament while younger girls got baked goods and did activities, and older girls got to discuss life issues.
Brandi Matthews, of Perfectly Imperfect, took care of that by helping the older girls work through some of life's obstacles with group discussions and teaching them life skills.
Matthews teaches vocational, employment and life skills for her job, and hoped to impart some of her wisdom onto the younger generation.
She wanted to teach the girls about confidence, the do's and don'ts of life, what to say and what not to say and more.
Smith and Taylor said the goal of the basketball tournament was to get older, father figures involved to teach boys about sportsmanship and fellowship, as well as life-lessons.
"It starts with us," Smith said. "We have to do it. We have to initiate it. We're the adults in the community and we have to initiate that."
Taylor said the group she is involved in asks for donations for the event ahead of time, and then takes the money -- as well as some of their own -- and purchases school supplies.
Children received notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, erasers, markers, crayons and more as a back-to-school gift.
After the basketball tournament ended and the rest of the activities came to a stop, the final event of the day -- a dodge ball tournament -- began.
The event ran from 12 to 5 p.m., and saw hundreds of children attend with their parents.
Taylor said she wanted the back-to-school event to be non-traditional, and give the kids a chance to participate in structured activities.
"I just feel like these kids, they need some love and some affection," Taylor said. "A lot of these kids are not getting it."