Tuesday Sarah Michael Farrington, a freshman at Bainbridge High School, was awarded the Dylan Reid Faircloth Scholarship that will help send her to the Duke TIP program — a program through Duke University that fosters the growth and learning of gifted students in a three-week summer program.
The Duke TIP program is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented youth. As a world leader in gifted and talented education, Duke TIP works with students, their families, and educators to identify, recognize, challenge, engage and help students reach their highest potential.
June Faircloth started a scholarship specifically helping send students from Bainbridge to the program with financial assistance because her late son Dylan Reid Faircloth was an alumnus of the program.
“Other than Dylan’s salvation, the Duke TIP program was the greatest thing to happen to Dylan,” Faircloth said about her son.
Farrington, who received the scholarship Tuesday, is among five other Duke TIP alumni who came from Bainbridge. Farrington will study English at Georgia Tech as part of the program this summer. Farrington is involved in the Bainbridge High School band, in her church’s praise band and runs for the BHS cross country.
Farrington, like other students who qualify for Duke TIP around the country, took the SAT as a seventh grader and qualified with her high score to attend.
The TIP program has a waitlist exceeding 1,000 students to enroll.
Farrington said she does not know what she wants to do for her career, but hopes maybe the program this summer will guide her in the right direction.
“I just want to thank Mrs. Faircloth for making this opportunity possible for me,” Farrington said. “My AP literature teacher Mrs. Michelle Miller really inspired me and she helped me realize that I have a talent for writing and love to do it.”
Faircloth and Delrose Betts, a mother of a Duke TIP alumni student from Bainbridge who is now attending Harvard, are working to promote the Faircloth scholarship for the program so more parents will know about this opportunity for their gifted children.
“Some of the kids affectionately call the program, ‘Nerd Camp,” Faircloth laughed.
Faircloth said her son was picked on for being smart in school, but once he attended the Duke TIPS program, he had a new confidence in being bright.
Faircloth and Betts agree, the Duke TIPS program officials are always reaching out to them, trying to find talent from Southwest Georgia, because they seek a diverse group of students to come to their program and study.
“So you see, there really are opportunities for these gifted students to go and study with students like them and students from all across the country,” Faircloth said. “The camaraderie is amazing at this program — the students develop such a close bond and they can’t wait to go back the next summer.”
“We really want to get with more parents and let them know about what opportunities are available for their students with this program and with all the scholarships available,” Betts said.
For more information about the scholarships available locally and the program, contact June Faircloth,
jfis4670@bellsouth.net