A look at some of the participants in the Broader Horizons high school mentoring program in McDowell County:
MOUNT VIEW HIGH SCHOOL:
-Rayven Bailey is pregnant, but it won’t hamper her plans to major in elementary education at Bluefield State College. She wants to remain in McDowell County after college. “There are kids here that have parents that have drug habits and they don’t have anybody to really look up to,” Bailey said.
-Rashawn Brooks played basketball in high school and plans to study sports management at West Virginia State. He splits time at his own home and with his grandmother, a big influence in his life. He said the mentoring program helped teach him to communicate better.
-Toni Campbell’s mother died when she was young. She lives with a grandmother and cousin, and has siblings and step-siblings “too many to count.” She plans to study biology at Concord University and wants to become an anesthesiologist.
-Brandon Grubb plans to study forensic investigations at West Virginia University Tech. Early in life, floods forced his family to move to another part of the county. Due to his career path, he doesn’t anticipate working in McDowell County after college.
-Emily Hicks will graduate third in her class with honors. The captain of the cheerleading team hopes to study elementary education at Davis & Elkins College but worries about finding enough available scholarships and grants. “It’s a lot of money coming where we come from,” she said.
-Marlin Marrs will study physical therapy at Bluefield College in Virginia. The son of a single mom played baseball, basketball and football. He said all youth in the county would benefit if officials built a recreation center.
RIVER VIEW HIGH SCHOOL
-Hannah Barnett will study communications at Concord on a service-based scholarship. During the mentoring program, she enjoyed a tour of the University of Maryland’s student-run broadcast studios..
-Emmilea Hatfield has bounced from home to home and lives with a friend’s grandmother. She said her parents abused drugs and alcohol, had no jobs and didn’t go to college. “I decided that I wanted to be the complete opposite of them.” She’ll study elementary education or social work at West Virginia State.
-Christian Nealen is the only junior among the group. His father committed suicide a year ago. Nealen is involved in more than a dozen activities and clubs and takes advanced-placement classes. “I keep my head up,” he said. “I have plenty of support. This community is a loving environment to be around and a great place to grow up in.”
-Matt Thornsbury lives with his grandmother and unemployed father in a former coal camp. Thornsbury plans to study English and political science at West Virginia University. For Thornsbury, maintaining solid grades wasn’t the problem. Finding a way to pay for college was. “There’s not a lot of money floating around down here,” said Thornsbury’s father, Rick. “He’s toughed it out.”
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