Beaufort County First Steps is very proud of Jaylen Roberts and his mother, Angela Roberts, who participated in Beaufort County First Steps, Parents as Teachers program. Parents As Teachers (PAT) is a home visiting program that includes personal visits from a Parent Educator at least twice monthly; monthly group connections with other PAT families; screenings and assessments to identify developmental concerns; and connections to outside resources that families may need to succeed. Jaylen was awarded the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program, which funds students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities studying agriculture, food, natural resource sciences and related fields. Jaylen has been going to school since before he was born. His mother was in college studying physics when she was pregnant with Jaylen and when she became an eighth-grade science teacher at Whale Branch Middle School. Jaylen attended Beaufort County School Districts First Steps program, which begins prenatally, and has gone to Whale Branch school since, including a stint with his mom as his teacher at the middle school. Jaylen graduated from Whale Branch Early College High School this past Wednesday, June 16th with two associate degrees in arts and science from Technical College of the Lowcountry – enough to make him a junior when he begins attending South Carolina State University in the fall to study civil engineering. 

Read the article featuring Jaylen in the Island Packet:
Teacher’s kid, football star at Whale Branch receives full ride to study engineering