Tour with purpose
A blanket of Lowcountry heat welcomed local students Valerie Hughes and Kirby Edwards home as they stepped off a luxury bus Monday, the eighth stop on a 30-day, cross-country road trip and the opportunity of a lifetime.
In addition to 28 new friends from all over the United States, Hughes and Edwards filed off the Godparents Youth Organization bus with exposure to the history, culture and sights and sounds of American cities from California to South Carolina.
The GYO bus will stop in 28 states by the end of the month-long journey, and kids such as North Charleston High School senior Hughes and Burke High School junior Edwards will absorb the American landscape from their seats on the bus between tours of historical sites, college campuses and museums.
Los Angeles bus driver Tanya Walters founded GYO inadvertently. She started out as a mentor to her niece, Zenae, taking her on weekend road trips. Zenae's friends started tagging along; and eventually, friends of Walters suggested she start a nonprofit.
Since 2005, Walters and her team have given underprivileged, under-performing high school students the opportunity to see the country and turn their lives around.
"I just didn't want to become another statistic," Hughes said of why she applied for the program.
The 18-year-old said things haven't always been easy growing up. She has been helping her parents pay the bills by working jobs at a barbershop and McDonald's since she was 13, was failing in school and didn't get along with her teachers. She said she hopes exposure to a U.S. tour with mentors such as Walters will impact her life.
Walters said children often act out at school when they struggle at home, which is why the program targets students with grade-point averages of less than 2.5.
Since Hughes has been accepted to GYO, her grades have improved to a B average. She said the trip has been a dream come true so far, especially visiting Hollywood.
In addition to globe-trotting, GYO participants give back to communities by delivering donated backpacks, toiletries and T-shirts to needy kids in different cities. Locally, they assisted 50 young children attending the Lil Bulldogs Summer Camp.
The program participants met the campers at a ceremony at Burke High School auditorium Monday.
Walters spoke at the ceremony about the need to set an example and mentor young adults about survival in the real world, something that she said she learned at "The University of Life." She said she is confident that the children in the program she has already come to love will go to college.
"She's an angel," said sophomore Tamara Morris of Gaffney.
Hughes and Edwards are leading the way for area students to board the GYO bus. Shelia Grier, the director of Burke Community Education, said 10 students from the Charleston Country School District will have the opportunity to join the program in the fall as it expands across the nation.
