Alyssa Ridenour
reporter@greenepublishing.com
Betty "BJ" Curtis, a resident of Madison County for 52 years, is a mentor for a college scholarship program called Take Stock in Children (TSIC). Students are brought into the program as early as sixth grade, and the program has been awarding two-year tuition scholarships to North Florida College for over 25 years. The mentors are a crucial part of this program because they are trained to take care of the needs of these children and meet with them at least twice a month until they graduate.
Curtis has five children: two daughters and three sons and is married to Nate Curtis. Curtis taught in Madison County for 38 years before her retirement. She made her impact on many schools including Madison Primary, Lee Elementary, Greenville Elementary and Madison County Central School. She was even an adjunct professor for a while at Florida A&M University. In the summer of 2004, she was called and asked to mentor one of her former students. She accepted the offer and that is where her 10-year dedication to TSIC began. Curtis stated, "I really became a part of the TSIC family." In 2014, she had to stop mentoring due to a family illness but says that she loved every minute of her time in the program. "To me, TSIC is the most wonderful program we have in this county for education for children," said Curtis. "The kids really are our greatest resource for our future."
If you or any of our Madison County citizens would like to be a mentor for TSIC, please contact Mrs. Gina Rutherford, TSIC Student Services Coordinator, at (850) 973-5718, or Martha Register, TSIC College Success Coach, at (850) 973-8272. Mentors will be required to be fingerprinted and background checked to be able to mentor a student at any of the public schools. Mentoring is done at the student's school for 30 minutes per session, or can be done virtually, through the TSIC Mentor App.
TSIC is sponsored by Madison County Foundation for Excellence and Education (MCFEE).