Photo courtesy of Christiana Roussel.
Amanda Roussel stands with some of the books she donated to Sawyerville Day Camp in Greensboro.
On Saturday, Oct. 15, Mountain Brook resident Amanda Roussel traveled to Greensboro for the sixth annual Sawyerville Day Camp (SDC) 5K Fun Run, to donate more than four dozen ACT and SAT test prep books she had collected for the high school students of Hale County.
At the 5K and fun run, Roussel met with SDC’s Crystal Jones, executive director of programs and operations, and Claire Cotton, executive director of development and communications.
Roussel first became involved with the Black Belt community, of which Hale County is a part, and the children living there through her work with the Sawyerville Day Camp.
SDC is a nonprofit program run by the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, where Roussel served several years as a volunteer camp counselor.
Once she learned that the average ACT score for high school students in the Black Belt is 16 (on a 36-point scale), she knew she wanted to help in some way.
Roussel decided to make giving back to these communities the focal point of her C. Kyser Miree Center for Ethical Leadership project at the Altamont School. The Miree Center is a leadership education and global/local awareness program at Altamont.
Roussel reached out to fellow Altamont students and those at other high schools across the state as well as local libraries to collect ACT and SAT prep books. Her hope is that students may use these materials to increase their test scores, improving their odds of attending college.
To learn more about the work being done in Greensboro, visit SawyervilleDayCamp.org.
– Submitted by Christiana Roussel.
