Communities In Schools of Troup County, Inc. - Helping Kids Stay in School and Prepare for Life

Lagrange, Communities In Schools of Troup County

History

Communities in Schools was founded in 1990 as Cities in Schools of LaGrange, at a time when the LaGrange School system was an independent organization, separate from the Troup County, Hogansville and West Point systems. The name was changed to Communities in Schools of Troup County in 1993, coinciding with the consolidation of all Troup County school systems and the change of CIS from "cities" to "communities", in recognition of increased presence in smaller areas. At the time of its founding, CIS LaGrange was the first CIS affiliate in the country in a non-metropolitan area and has been a model for many other programs in Georgia and around the country.

In 1988, Troup County leaders launched a forward-thinking community planning program called "Troup 2000" with the goal of uniting the community around long range goals to improve the quality of life for all citizens. Committees were formed to address major challenges facing the community, including education, housing, transportation, health care and others.

The education committee quickly focused on the high school dropout rate. At the time, local school systems were among the lowest in graduation percentage in the state of Georgia, which in turn, was ranked 50th among the states. Contact was made with Cities in Schools in Atlanta, where CIS was founded in the early 70's. Fortuitously, CIS leaders had developed a model for intervening in a smaller school system in hopes of locating a pilot project site. After much discussion and community wide meetings featuring a group of young people from Atlanta CIS (the "Exodus Players"), a consensus was built to move forward in the LaGrange school system.

The initial board of directors consisted primarily of members of the Troup 2000 education committee, including Cal Adamson, Superintedent of LaGrange Schools, Jane Fryer, President Troup County Chamber of Commerce, Alfred McNair and Robert Tatum, School Board Members, Ruth Ellen Trotter, President of the local United Way, Tom Bushar, President of Kaydon, Bob Goehring, Human Resources Director at Kimberly-Clark, and other leading representatives from business, social service agencies, and the faith community. Goehring was elected board chairman and served in that capacity for 8 years. A 501 C3 non profit corporation was formed, and the first executive director, Russell Walker, a former military officer from Columbus, Ga. was brought on board.

CIS is now served by its 6th Executive Director, Ms. Brenda Kennedy, former director of the Urban League in Columbus, Ga. Two of the previous 5 directors, Ms. Carol Lewis and Ms. Tina Duckett, have been promoted within CIS of Georgia to positions overseeing other programs and services around the state.