By CHAD COOPER
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A new Boys & Girls Club of Central Appalachia chapter is coming to Southern Gap High School this fall.
The Buchanan County School Board approved the new chapter during its June 2 meeting following a motion by North Grundy school board member Angie McClanahan and seconds from Knox school board member Tommy Blankenship and Prater school board member Jack Compton.
Prior to the vote, Boys & Girls Club of Central Appalachia Chief Executive Officer Taylor Burgess requested the board’s approval and thanked school leaders for nearly two decades of partnership with Buchanan County Public Schools.
“Next year, 2027, will be 20 years of partnership with Buchanan County Public Schools and Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Appalachia,” Burgess said. “We started in 2007 at Hurley Elementary/Middle School, and we have grown exponentially.”
Burgess credited the partnership with the school division as a major reason for the organization’s success and growth throughout Buchanan County.
“We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel here,” Burgess noted. “We just used the schools with your all’s permission, and that’s been our blessing. The other successful venture has been the busing. We can’t thank you, Jeremy (Buchanan County Public School’s transportation supervisor Jeremy Ward), enough. Once we got the busing, we started seeing a huge increase in kids.”
Burgess said the opening of the county’s new consolidated high school created an opportunity to establish the organization’s first full-scale high school club.
“As you know, we have had an after-school program at each of the elementary/middle schools, and we have had programming at each one of the high schools to a certain extent and some after-school programs, but we have never been a full-blown high school program. Now that we’ve got all four high schools under one roof, the Boys and Girls Club wants to start a club at Southern Gap High School.”
The chapter will serve students from Council, Grundy, Hurley and Twin Valley communities, all of which will be consolidated into Southern Gap High School when it opens this fall.
Burgess said the chapter will operate as a team-centered club based in engineering teacher Kayla Cantrell’s classroom and will continue many of the programs previously offered through the Buchanan County Career, Technology and Higher Learning Center.
“We just wanted you blessing here tonight and see if you all would be kind enough to let us start a team centered club at Southern Gap High School,” Burgess asked the board.
McClanahan responded enthusiastically, saying “yes” several times before making the motion to approve the request.
Prior to Burgess’ presentation, Buchanan County Public Schools Superintendent Sherry Fletcher praised his contributions to the school division and the impact the organization has had on local students.
“I want to thank Taylor (Burgess) for all he does for our school division and the kids,” Fletcher said. “He is the face behind Boys and Girls Club in our elementary schools but he also does many more things for our students with different programs within our school division. He has been the one behind us to want STEM in our elementary-middle schools and that is going to happen this year. I know he is going to be right behind helping us… We thank you for everything you do.”
The Southern Gap High School chapter is expected to open when the new school begins classes this fall.
