THOMASVILLE — The Marguerite Neel Williams Boys & Girls Club will receive a grant of more than $321,000 from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief fund.

The money will be split three ways, to both of the clubs in Thomasville and the Jackie Robinson Boys and Girls Club in Cairo.

Each club will receive $100,680. The rest of the money will be spent on administrative costs.

“A lot of the kids we serve, not everybody, and a lot of kids in this community were behind academically before COVID,” Marguerite Neel Williams Boys and Girls Club chief professional officer Lee Wagner said. “COVID made it worse.”

Governor Brian Kemp announced last month that the state would allocate $15 million for Boys and Girls Clubs through the state.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Georgia have done a remarkable job of serving the needs of youth across the Peach State,” Kemp said in a news release. “With this GEER funding, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Georgia will be able to further enhance student academic achievement by addressing educational gaps caused by the pandemic. I look forward to seeing the positive impact this funding has on youth across the State of Georgia.”

According to the news release, “The program goals include ensuring 65% of youth below grade level will return to grade level by the end of the program term (Sept. 1, 2022), and 35% of youth will show an increase or progress toward grade level achievement.”

Wagner said he and his staff are meeting daily to come up with a strategy as to how to use the funds.

“We have always focused on academics,” he said. “Ensuring our kids do well academically has always been our priority. With this money, we will be able to make that an even greater priority.”

Each of the clubs will hire up to five tutors.

“A majority of those tutors will be certified teachers,” Wagner said. “We recognize the importance of that because it brings credibility and a level of expertise to the program.

“In our case, we are hoping those teachers come from both the city and county school systems, as well as Brookwood. And there is the possibility of hiring retired teachers.”

When the children begin the program each one will go through an assessment to see if their  deficiency is in math, language arts or something else.

Club members, which are children ages 6-18 and grades K-12, will given the first opportunity to take part in the program, which requires a commitment to stay in the program for 15 months.

“But it is open to kids who want to take advantage of this but may not be club members,” Wagner said. “But because there will be a limited number of slots, it will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.”

Dr. Neila Connors, who ran the Boys and Girls Club virtual learning program, will be in charge of the program.

To contact Connors for more information, call 229-228-5155.

Kevin Price can be reached at 229-226-2400, ext. 1820