Randolph Learning Center Students Take Trip to Clemson University

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Community members, as well as students enjoy a visit to Clemson University in South Carolina. Pictured (L-R): Dr. Gordon Grant, Principal RLC, Jordan, Travis, Moncravius, Ja’Quise, Robert, Kellie Kiely, Dr. Joe Kiely, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group, Carter, TJ, Balthazar, Ms Katherine Cope, LPC Therapist, Mr. Todd Williams, J.D. Buncombe county PD, Pj, Jade. Kneeling, Mr. Derek Edwards, Math teacher RLC, and his son Wade. Not pictured: Ms. Amanda Edwards, Director of the Literacy Council, and Ms. Nycole Howard, J.D.  Photo: Eric Howard

Staff reports

Thanks to the generous support of Asheville residents Dr. Joe Kiely and his wife Kellie, ten Randolph Learning Center students, as well as three Randolph staff and their families, were able to attend the homecoming football game at Clemson University on Saturday, October 31. The Kielys accompanied the students on the trip and enjoyed the camaraderie of the bus ride, the overwhelmingly orange force field of college football tradition that is Clemson, and a dinner out on the way home.

The trip was organized by Mr. Eric Howard, social worker for
Randolph, who is tireless in his efforts to give Randolph students
powerful learning experiences in a wide range of social situations,
from sporting events to cultural ones, from football games to inspiring
speakers like Maya Angelou. He believes that giving students direct
positive experiences that broaden their social understanding has a
connective effect in keeping them engaged in school, and making
incremental steps toward making positive changes in their own lives. He
is also a believer in securing resources in the Asheville community to
invest in these students, and is forthright in asking Asheville
residents to help their own students. The Kielys have been consistently
generous in supporting his efforts.

The students who attended the trip ranged from grades 6-11, and
they were amazed by the scale of the university campus and the famous,
86,000-seat Death Valley stadium. They were also impressed by the
intensity of the traditions, including the famous game-opening descent
of the Clemson players – touching The Rock at the entrance to the
field, then pouring down the slope and out through the massed marching
band on the field. That all this took place during periodic sweeps of
driving rain did not deter the Randolph students nor the 55,000 other
people there.

Clemson won the game against a sturdy but overmatched team from
Coastal Carolina College. After the game, the Clemson faithful left the
stadium to finish off the picnic dinners in their elaborate tailgate
tents, and the students from RLC returned to Asheville.

What Mr. Howard is banking on, and the Kielys are helping
support, is that the students had seen first-hand an event and a place
that they liked, and would like to repeat, at a college somewhere in a
future of their own making. It is no exaggeration to say that trips
like this are important parts of giving students the experiences that
they use to shape goals of their own.

If you see Mr. Howard, better known as “Big E,” talk to him
about an experience you can help provide to be a part of that process.
You’ll be glad you did: these experiences enrich all who participate in
them, both the receivers and the givers.