From left to right are Ray Rogers, Superintendent of Dillon School District 4, Walmart, Patrick Cole, UNCP counseling graduate student, Brandon Calderon-Rodriquez, eighth grade student, Rodney Cook, principal of Dillon Middle School, Justice Rathfon, Dillon Middle student, Jeffrey Warren, chair of UNCP department of counseling, Jy’Kia Waters, Dillon Middle student, Randy Brown, director of operations for Perdue Farms in Dillon, Jonathan Ricks and Shenika Jones, Assistant Professors of Counseling at UNCP.
Perdue Farms Continues Social Skills Training Partnership with UNCP and Dillon Middle School
October 21, 2019
Salisbury, Md. (Friday, October 21, 2019) – As part of a collaborative effort among the Department of Counseling in the College of Health Sciences at UNC Pembroke (UNCP), Perdue Farms through the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation and the Walmart Foundation, will continue a project to provide social and emotional learning opportunities for students at Dillon Middle School (DMS) in Dillon, S.C. This project aligns with the commitment of the College of Health Sciences to create wellness in the region.
Assistant professors of professional school counseling at UNCP, Jonathan Ricks and Shenika Jones, were awarded a $10,000 grant from the Perdue Foundation and a $1,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation. The grants will assist in the implementation of the Too Good for Violence – Social Perspectivescurriculum developed by the C. E. Mendez Foundation. Approximately 740 Dillon Middle School students will participate in 10 weeks of enrichment lessons presented by UNCP counseling graduate students on conflict resolution, goal setting, identifying emotions, effective communication, and respecting self and others.
Funds from the foundation grants will enable graduate students in the UNCP Department of Counseling to continue to deliver the curriculum to students weekly.
“We are extremely grateful to the Perdue and Walmart foundations for continuing to provide financial support for this project,” said Ricks. “UNCP is dedicated to serving the community and providing exceptional training to our students. This project allows us to do both.”
The goal of the program is to increase social skills development, leading to a safer school and community. “We have a unique opportunity at Dillon Middle School because the majority of youth in Dillon will attend this school, which makes this campus ideal for longitudinal studies to research the impact of interventions like ours on the overall wellness of these students for years to come,” said Jones.
Middle school students will practice identifying and managing bullying situations as well as building bonds and relationships.
“Dillon Middle School is fortunate to be an educational partner with the Department of Counseling at UNCP for the second year in a row,” said Rodney Cook, principal at DMS. “DMS is excited to see the positive impact this program will bring to our school. We appreciate all the hard work these graduate students and their professors have put into helping our students become productive citizens.”
“We’re proud to continue our support for a program that helps youth develop much-needed social skills and the confidence to succeed in the communities where our associates live and work,” said Randy Brown, director of Perdue operations in Dillon. “We believe that collaborative partnerships like this help keep our communities strong.”
The mission of the Walmart Foundation is to meet the needs of the under-served by directing charitable giving toward its core areas of focus: Opportunity, Sustainability, and Community.
About the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation
The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms, was established in 1957 by company founder Arthur W. Perdue and is funded through the estates of Arthur W. Perdue and Frank Perdue. As part of our belief in supporting the communities where and with whom we do business, the Foundation provides grants on behalf of Perdue Farms in communities where large numbers of our associates live and work. At Perdue Farms, we believe in responsible food and agriculture®.
About Perdue Farms
We’re a fourth-generation, family owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers and farmers through trusted choices in products and services.
The PERDUE® brand is the number-one brand of fresh chicken in the U.S., and the company is the leader in organic chicken in the U.S., and Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company. As we approach our 100th anniversary in 2020, our path forward is about getting better, not just bigger. We never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever chicken, turkey and pork, and in USDA-certified organic chicken. Learn more at www.perduefarms.com.
