Bringing Digital Equity to Appalachia

The Thompson Scholars Foundation is based in the Town Branch neighborhood of Manchester, Kentucky. We provide wraparound after-school academic enrichment to historically underserved populations in Clay County in the Appalachian region of southeast Kentucky, one of the areas in the United States hardest hit by poverty. Our work with disadvantaged students has also meant a focus on digital equity because bridging the digital divide is essential to our community’s future. Our programming promotes diversity and inclusion. Our target population includes pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade youth who identify with an underserved population or are experiencing financial or other disadvantages. Given a history of disenfranchisement of certain groups, we prioritize the acceptance of students who identify with any minority status. Then we prioritize students experiencing poverty or other types of disadvantages. We also accept students in special circumstances—for instance, those in a single-parent household in which the parent works a second-shift job and cannot fully support the student’s academic progress. Engaging the families is an integral part of our work. Although we serve the entire neighborhood through programs that reach and engage whole families, our weekly programming currently serves 48 students, and we are continually adding participants as our capacity increases.

[Dr. Danielle King is the diversity, equity, and inclusion advisor in the Kentucky Department for Public Health, Office of Health Equity. Dr. King also serves as the Lead for America–American Connection Corps Community Equity Fellow with the Thompson Scholars Foundation.]