Warren County Students Assisted By Ayers Foundation Trust To Help High School Students

The Ayers Foundation Trust continues its work in Warren County to help students succeed with post high school plans.

The trust has produced some 17,000 scholars across its schools. CEO Burton Williams said one of their most successful programs it the Ayers Scholars Program which helps students succeed through technical or community college, university or the military. Williams said the program had incredible success increasing college-going rates.

“So In 2021 we expanded our program with help from Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly,” Williams said. “And we had as much as 72 percent college-going rate in 2022 compared to the statewide average of 53 percent.”

Williams said the reason they see these kind of  results is their unique college access counseling program. He said in their model they embed Ayers counselors full-time in the schools.

He said although they are embedded in the fabric of the schools, they are employees of the trust with a responsibility as champions, coaches and guides for these students.

“Even during their college years we are also checking in with them and supporting them on their college-going journey,” Williams said.

Williams said Ayers only does their work in at-risk and distressed counties as defined by the Appalachian Resource Council studies. He said they try to lift up those counties that lack the resources of urban areas.

“As far as what we designate as college-going, we have always considered the military as college-going,” Williams said. “Because that is some form of a credential. We need a durable credential that will go with these students for the rest of their lives.”

Williams said with the proliferation of TCAT, Tennessee College of Applied Technology, under the Lee Administration we actually see 52% of the students we work with going to a state funded community college or Tennessee College of Applied Technology.

“The Governor came to us in 2021 and said, You’re program is so successful, we want you to expand it all across the state,” Williams said. “And that happened again in 2023.”

Williams said one of the unexpected consequences of the program is that they would work with students and after students received their durable credential they would look around and find now jobs available. Williams said through no fault of their own, those students would leave Tennessee for work opportunities.

“So we became an assistant to exporting the talent from these rural communities,” Williams said. “So early next month, partnering with Governor Lee, we’ll be announcing a new major initiative called Come Home Tennessee.”

Williams said the new initiative would reach out to the scholars who have left Tennessee with opportunities for them to return

“We have the talent so if an employer says I want an accounting office in Warren County,” Williams said. “We say well we have 20 CPAs, 10 of which live there and 5 others that want to come back. And then they know the talent pipeline is there.”

Williams said from there the prospective business gets to figure out how to make it happen.

“We’re very excited about this new initiative,” Williams said.

The original Ayers Foundation was started in 1999 by founder Jim Ayers. His college education propelled him to a successful career in healthcare management and banking but he had a dear friend in high school who did not have any financial resources to pursue education beyond high school. Ayers would say his friend was smarter than he was. So Ayers decided that he would make sure no child in Parsons, Tennessee would be denied a college education based solely on a lack of funds.

Today the Ayers Foundation Trust is in 33 high schools in 21 rural counties in Tennessee.