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From the Executive Director
Donnie E. Wheatley
Graduation– What a
bitter sweet time! This year was especially
so as we sent six young men out into the
world to continue their life journey.
Together they were here for 22 years. They
were an enjoyable group with which to work.
They developed plans (and even sometimes
shared them with us). Each one used the
resources that were available to them "off
the Hill" to expand their horizons and
explore life. All these are critical to
reaching potentials and becoming a
contributing member of society.
Their stay was
enhanced through special events and
activities made possible by donors who
shared this ministry’s goals and understand
the importance of such things. On behalf of
these graduates and many others, thanks.
With so many
recent changes in the state’s use and
regulation of residential facilities, it is
tougher and more expensive to provide the
environment that leads to an impressive
group of graduates. hey all benefited from a
greatly expanded on campus education system
that just completed the first year of a
secondary component that will serve at least
10 residents next year.
This year’s
elementary/middle school group was our
seventh and and the results continued a
string of successful years. One of our high
school students needed to retest for eighth
grade SOLs (standards of learning). He
passed both! In reading, he improved 100
points and was 1 of 3 in his retest group to
pass while in math he was the only one to
pass. This is
certainly a nice verification of the work we
are doing.
All of this
requires support. I realize I am preaching
to the choir, but will you take a few
minutes to introduce a friend to Boys’ Home
or to bring a group of friends for a visit?
If so, we will
continue to be able to send young men into
the world prepared to be productive
citizens.
Thanks and God
Bless. Have a great Summer.
Donnie E. Wheatley
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Awards Banquet
2008
On May 29, 2008,
Boys’ Home, Inc. held their annual awards
banquet in the Ben Parrott Dining Hall. The
accomplishments of the residents for the
past year were recognized. Many schloarships,
along with academic, athletic, departmental
and volunteer awards were presented.
Darius Peterson
was awarded the first Matthew Brian Foster
Honorary Scholarship. Peterson won this
honor based on qualities he showed that
matched those of Foster when Matt was a
resident here from 2004-2007. Some of those
qualities include: growth in character and
being a help to others. Matt Foster
and his mother Jody Emerson presented
the scholarship.
Gedeon Tonda
also received many honors. One award
,however, will have him remembered forever
as his name will be engraved on a plaque in
the Administration Building. The honor is
the George Floyd Rogers Award named after
the founder of Boys’ Home, Inc.
Two special awards
were given out as well, an American Flag
given by Reggie Gibbs, Alumnus 2002,
that was flown over Iraq during Operation
Iraqi Freedom III and a Best Foot Forward
award to Joe Carpenter, who is
retiring from the position of Director of
the Boys’ Home School after 7 years.
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Farewell to
Mr. Carpenter, Boys’ Home
School Director
September 4, 2001
marked the beginning of a seven year era
that has benefited many young men at Boys’
Home. This was the day that the Boys’ Home
on campus school opened its doors.
According to Joe
Carpenter, "The Boys’ Home School was built
with the idea that boys were coming here
academically behind in the classroom and
needed some assistance before moving on to
public school. Once the boys are caught up
in the classroom, we believe this will
improve their behavior in school, their
outlook about school and their chance to
graduate."
Joe knows the
school’s philosophy first hand, he has been
the school’s director since the very
beginning after working for 36 years in the
Alleghany County School System.
A contest that Mr.
Carpenter used at the end of the school year
was the Carpenter Challenge. The challenge
took place in the accelerated reader program
during that last eight weeks of the school
year. The last weeks of school can be
grueling but with the Carpenter Challenge,
students continued to stay focused.
After all, the
prizes included 2 bikes and an iPod. The
better you did and the more points you got
by the end, the better the choice of prizes
the students won. And that’s a challenge
most kids gladly accepted.
Mr. Carpenter
feels that the Challenge, the accelerated
reading program and dedicated staff have
helped the boys drastically improve their
reading abilities and that's a big
accomplishment during his tenure.
Mr.
Carpenter convinced his students that they
can achieve and succeed in the classroom
even when they had previously been told or
believed that they could not. Thank you,
Joe.
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Hard Work is
Nothing New at Boys’ Home
Hard work is nothing new at Boys’ Home.
The Boys’ Home founder, the Rev. George
Floyd Rogers envisioned that Boys’ Home
would instill a solid work ethic in each
young man coming to Boys’ Home. That was in
1906.
Today, the work
study program that has been implemented in
the last 3 years has the same basic idea.
The work study program was funded through a
generous grant of the Jessie Ball duPont
Fund.
For work study,
each resident works an age-suitable job. The
object is for him to gain two important
skills that are necessary to have in life:
the ability to make decisions independently
and money management. However, these are not
the only skills the boys gain. They also
acquire a sense of accomplishment, elevated
self-esteem, and learning the importance of
hard work.
Each resident
handles the wages that he earns. First, he
sets aside a certain amount of what he makes
to help defray his room/board and tuition.He
pays by filling out "special" Boys’ Home
checks that are sent to the Business Office.
The balance is
placed in what is called a BPM (boys
personal money) account. It serves the same
purpose as a checking account. They can
deposit money into or withdraw money from
their accounts under specific guidelines.
The staff play a
key role in this program. Donnie Wheatley,
Executive Director, and Greg Lemmer,
Associate Director, designed the program to
fit into the schedules for each of the Boys’
Home students. Other staff members serve as
supervisors and evaluators, depending on
what areas of campus the boys work.
Sam Cunningham,
who is the Boys’ Home’s Farm Manager, feels
that this program will be a big help to the
boys in their work experiences once they are
employed off campus. He personally holds
them to high standards to match those of
future employers. Hopefully that fact will
result in the boys using their best work
habits at all times.
Mr. Cunningham
also works with the residents in the
Wheatley Intake and Evaluation Center. This
means each young man knows from the
beginning that they are expected to be a
contributing member during their stay at
Boys’ Home.
Alex is one of the
residents in the work study program. Alex is
considered one of the hardest working
residents on the "Hill." Just about every
free moment that he has outside of school,
he is hard at work. He does many things for
Boys’ Home, whether it is working on campus
or at the Boys’ Home Christmas Tree Farm.
The work study
program serves an important purpose of
instilling lessons the residents of Boys’
Home will use for a lifetime.
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One Journey
Ends, Another Begins
Class of 2008-08-27
The month of June
here at Boys’ Home marks the end of a
journey for six seniors: Ben Rice, Darius
Peterson, Gedeon Tonda, Ronnie McCummings,
Joshua Richmond, and Andrew Kiwanuka. They
have spent a total of 22 years at Boys’
Home. During their time here, these high
school seniors have reached the goal of
becoming changed young men.
They all had
different backgrounds and had different
reasons for ending up at Boys’ Home, but one
thing that will always link them together
are their memories of the "Hill."
They have dealt
with many things during their time here.
Some include: being away from home and
family, getting along with other people, and
the consequences for actions taken.
They have received
an opportunity while at Boys’ Home and they
have taken advantage of it. All six Seniors
graduated from Alleghany High School. They
give credit to all of the staff and others
that worked with them to allow them to see
this moment.
All of the Seniors
have put a lot of thought and preparation
into their future endeavors.
This well-traveled
Senior, Darius is a 2 year resident
from Norfolk, Virginia by way of the Bronx,
New York. His future plans are to attend Old
Dominion University in Norfolk to study to
become a surgeon.
A resident for
close to 5 years from Lynchburg, Virginia,
Ben plans to attend community college
for the fall semester of 2008. After that,
he wants to transfer to Johnson & Wales
University to further pursue his interest in
Culinary Arts.
Gedeon came
here from Columbus, Ohio and has been at
Boys’ Home for 8 years. He wants to study
business in college and also wants to help
out in the community by coaching or go home
to Africa to help his family and others who
are less fortunate.
A Senior
who has been here for about 2 years, is from
Fredericksburg, Virginia. Joshua has
not decided on what he wants to do yet, but
has expressed that because he finished high
school he now has options. Whatever option
he chooses, Boys’ Home has prepared him to
do the best he can in what he does.
A 5 year resident
from Hot Springs, Virginia, Ronnie
plans to pursue a nursing career at Dabney
S. Lancaster Community College.
From Maryland,
Andrew has been at Boys’ Home 3
years. He will be starting his college
education at Montgomery Community College in
Maryland for two years. After those two
years, he plans on transferring to a four
year institution. His field of study will be
in Athletic Training.
These young men
spent a total of 22 years at Boys’ Home
preparing for this moment. That is the
common bond that these six young men have.
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Notes and Quotes
We want to thank
everyone for a job well done this past
school year, 2007-08. The staff, past and
present, do many things to see that the
young men of Boys’ Home develop into
successful, productive members of society.
We bid farewell to Michael Davis,
former Assistant Director of Program, who
has returned to Boys Farm, Inc., Newbury,
South Carolina as the Executive Director.
We also thank the
following members of the Board of Trustees
who just completed their terms: Mr. John
Waff (St. John’s-Bedford), Mrs. Susan
Copty (St. John’s-Roanoke), and Mrs.
Elise Balcom (Eastern Shore Chapel,
Virginia Beach). We welcome to two board
members: Mr. Dick Litton
(Trinity-Buchanan) and Mr. Steve Keyser
(Christ Church-Martinsville).
We were saddened
at the death of former trustee and furiously
loyal supporter of Boys’ Home- Dr.
MaryJaneLuke of Covington, Virginia. Dr.
Luke was a member of the board of trustees
from 1996-2000. She was also a tireless
member of the Second Century construction
committee. We will miss her good humor,
intellect and grace.
The Sam and
Billie Hall Memorial Award was presented
at the Awards banquet to Gedeon Tonda. Sam
and Billie were employees of Boys’ Home from
1984-2002. At various times, Sam worked as
houseparent, activities coordinator and
campus manager. Billie was a houseparent,
team leader and substitute teacher. They
loved Boys’ Home and especially the boys.
At Sam’s death in
1995, a part of the mountain was named in
his memory. Bille Hall passed away in 2007.
Gedeon remembers Mrs. Hall as his team
leader. Becky Rhea, Boys’ Home School
teacher, and Sandra Scruggs,
Development Coordinator, presented the
award.
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