Junior Board
Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc. funds historic preservation junior board
(News release originally issued October, 2006)
A grant will allow a panel of high school students from the central Georgia area to research, fund, and support historic preservation projects in the Milledgeville area. The board will function as part of the educational programming at the Old Governor's Mansion, a unit of Georgia College.
The grant from the Watson-Brown Foundation will establish the Milledgeville Junior Board for Historic Preservation, said James Turner, director of the Old Governor's Mansion. The grant is renewable on a yearly basis.
The junior board will be composed of eight to fourteen high school students from central Georgia who demonstrate a passion for historic preservation, are active in the community, have good academic standing, and have strong references from teachers, according to Turner.
After reviewing preservation proposals, individual members of the board will present their selected project to the rest of the board for consideration and funding approval. The board which will meet monthly throughout the academic year will then be responsible for distributing the $25,000 in preservation grants.
"The board has the authority to award money in any allotment to preservations projects that they deem worthy," Turner said. "These Junior Board members will not only learn the value of historic preservation, but also philanthropy."
The junior board is patterned after the junior board of trustees of the Watson-Brown Foundation. Tad Brown, president of the Watson-Brown Foundation, said the original idea to involve high school students began six years ago in an effort to influence youth philanthropy. Building on that mission, the Foundation formed a team of talented high school students and charged it with preserving history in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) of Georgia. Since that time, the self-perpetuating junior board has awarded more than $100,000 in historic preservation grants, added Brown.
"It is important for the students to operate out of a historic environment," said Brown, "and equally important for them to benefit from the knowledge of their mentoring curators and educators."
The Old Governor's Mansion is a part of Extended University at Georgia College & State University, a unit of the university's Academic Affairs Division.
For more information about this program or how to nominate a student, contact Jim Turner, director, or Matt Davis, curator and coordinator of the Junior Board project at (478) 445-4545.
