ISSUED: 29 July 2021
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Costa
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s international program hosted a group of students from I Believe in Me, Inc. based in Frederick, Maryland. I Believe in Me is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the growth and development of youth between the ages of 6-16.
“We are here at Shepherd trying to encourage higher learning,” said Aje Hill, executive director, I Believe in Me, Inc. “We’re trying to give kids the opportunity to be in an atmosphere that perhaps, with the lack of resources that they have, they get a chance to see if this is a life they want to live, see if this is a campus that brings interest in the future of education, and give them the confidence needed to get into college.”
International students from African countries who attend Shepherd gave the I Believe in Me students a tour of the campus and played soccer with them. There was also a panel discussion with Chauncey Winbush, Shepherd vice president for athletics; Jay Mason, Shepherd alumnus and Frederick County Public Schools board member; Fanny Bondje, New York University graduate and Rotary scholar; and Sav Tinsley, from Blue Ridge Automotive in Knoxville, Maryland.
Lois Jarman, Shepherd director of international affairs, wanted to partner with I Believe in Me after taking a trip to West Africa where she noticed the male students in the all-Black classrooms excelled at math.
“I came up with idea of international students at Shepherd from African countries tutoring African American students from I Believe in Me in math acting as a mentor,” Jarman said. “This visit to Shepherd is a first step toward setting up a tutoring program.”
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