RFE's Youth Outreach Program to Debut in Fall 2011

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

The Race for Education (RFE) is excited to announce its plans to create a Kentucky Youth Outreach Program to benefit middle school-aged children of central Kentucky. A similar after-school youth program was launched by the RFE in New York in 2009 and was designed to enhance the educational experience of backstretch workers’ children at Belmont Park Racetrack in Elmont, NY.  They have had a high success rate of educating and mentoring 7th and 8th graders through a Study Hall Program with community volunteers, educational field trips and lectures given by inspirational community speakers. 

The RFE’s purpose in providing this program is to engage families, specifically youth, of the central Kentucky farming community to improve grades, study skills, and post-secondary preparation, while also imparting the value of continued education via college or vocational school. Immediate results include an improvement in GPA and study habits while long-term results include preparing more students for college, helping them qualify for merit scholarships and instilling within them the importance of education and why they need to invest in their own future.

Some of the many services that will be offered include: tutoring; computer training; social networking; public speaking; ACT/SAT/PSAT preparatory courses; cultural field trips; and career research and counseling.

Programs will be held between the hours of 3-7pm on weekdays and Saturday mornings at The Race For Education office with location in Woodford and Bourbon counties to be determined. One or two nights each week will be Homework/Projects Night in which students can come to a specified location to receive extra assistance with their homework or utilize the computers available to complete projects or homework assignments.

The RFE plans to hire a full-time, bilingual educator to direct the program with a start date in time for the fall 2011 school year. Inquiries/resumes may be sent to info@raceforeducation.org. If you would like serve as a volunteer for the Kentucky Youth Outreach Program go to

www.volunteermatch.org Web site and register with the Race for Education.

To continue their commitment to college scholarships for Kentucky horse farm workers families, a $40,000 grant will be given by RFE in 2011 to the Horse Farm Workers’ Educational Assistance Program, http://horsefarmworkerseducationfund.com. Students receiving scholarships through this program will also be offered the opportunity to participate in The Race For Education’s Financial Literacy Program and could qualify individually for an additional $4000 in scholarship awards.

The Race for Education provides educational programs and college scholarships to young people in the equine and agriculture industries with significant financial need. The majority of their students come from high need, low income backgrounds. The Race for Education not only offers financial support for these students, but also mentoring, tutoring, and partnership support to ensure students are receiving the support and educational skills they need to be successful.