Dillon County Student's Plea about School Heard

August 3, 2009

DILLON, SC – August 3, 2009 – Education officials launched an effort Tuesday to rebuild an South Carolina middle school that has became a symbol of the nation’s education inequities into a model for success.

President Obama highlighted Dillon’s J.V. Martin Junior High during a speech to Congress in February, when he read a letter from 14-year-old Ty’Sheoma Bethea that asked for help replacing her run-down school. Although the federal stimulus package did not provide funds specifically to rebuild schools, her plea led to a two-day conference in Columbia this week on how to build a model school for the 21st century – and make a new J.V. Martin the example.

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