Anea

Anea was a high school senior living in the economically struggling Pee Dee region of South Carolina. Her hometown of Mullins has a high poverty rate, high unemployment rate and very few chances of finding meaningful employment.

Anea participated in the Paxen afterschool program where she attended Basic Skills Training classes so she could improve her test scores and graduate high school on time. When Anea originally took her ACT WorkKey assessment test, she scored Silver. After attending Paxen’s Basic Skills class, she wanted to retake the test and scored Gold.

The high school senior also attended Paxen’s after school Work Readiness classes and participated in the Work Experience program. She was then chosen for a summer IT training program at Florence-Darlington Technical School through their partnership with Paxen. During the four week program, students learned to build their own computers. Anea was one of eight Mullins High School students who were hand-selected to be a part of the program, and she says she is very happy to have had this experience.

The project was funded by the Pee Dee Regional Council Investment Board and the Workforce Investment Act Program. They say the summer program is an opportunity to partner with Florence-Darlington Technical College to invest in the future of young students.

Anea is now a freshman at the University of South Carolina and she’s using the computer she built herself last summer. We are extremely proud of this bright young woman and all her accomplishments. Paxen staff will continue to be there for Anea to help guide her as she enters the new world of college.