www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

English 中文網 漫畫網 愛新聞iNews 翻譯論壇
中國網站品牌欄目(頻道)
當前位置: Language Tips > Normal Speed News VOA常速

Scholarship helps tiny US town fight for survival

[ 2011-09-29 12:43]     字號 [] [] []  
免費訂閱30天China Daily雙語新聞手機報:移動用戶編輯短信CD至106580009009

Scholarship helps tiny US town fight for survival

The tiny timber town of Sparkman, Arkansas, has lost more than half its population since 1950. If the current trend continues, the 500-resident community might disappear altogether.

But Sparkman residents have a plan to keep their hometown alive.

Stephanie Harmon was born in Sparkman, Arkansas 27 years ago.

"It's always been a part of me". "I love this town."

Except for the six years she spent getting her master's degree in education in a neighboring city, Harmon has always lived in Sparkman.

Scholarship helps tiny US town fight for survival

"It's a very intimate and close-knit town, almost like a one big family". "Everyone knows everybody and we all take care of each other in different ways."

She is now married to another Sparkman native and teaches in the town's only elementary school.

"We want to do anything to educate our students". "So it's disheartening to hear students wanting to leave the town."

High school graduates have to go away to continue their education, she explains, since there's no college in town. But many of them find better job opportunities in big cities, and never come back. So Harmon and others decided to do something to encourage students to go to college and return.

"We got together, several of us community members, and started this Sparkman Scholarship Foundation."

The idea is not entirely new. Many communities in Arkansas and across the country offer students money to pay for their higher education. However, Harmon says the Sparkman scholarship is unique.

"Most scholarships such as ours are funded through wealthy benefactors or corporations or other foundations". "Our scholarship has a uniqueness that really tells how wonderful our community is. We didn't have a wealthy benefactor or foundation who is funding us. Our scholarship is completely funded by the residents of Sparkman and others with a heart for our town."

One of those funders is Bill Sorrells, a retired grocery store owner who has lived in Sparkman for almost all his life. Although he doesn't have kids of his own, Sorrells donated $500 to the scholarship fund.

"I plan to donate more each year, not just one time". "It's our kids. If we don't help them, nobody else is going to help them. We hope these scholarships will encourage people to stay here and maybe even some people move here and help us to grow a little bit."

As a condition of accepting the money, students agree to return to Sparkman after graduation, and live and work in town.

Scholarship helps tiny US town fight for survival

For Renee Brown, who has two young daughters, the scholarship program is a winning enterprise for everyone.

"One person can fund a scholarship program alone", "but if everybody pools together, we can give, but still not have to give as much as we would if we had to pay for our children to go to college alone."

Brenda Garrett, a member of the Sparkman scholarship fundation, says since its launch last March, they've raised more than $56,000, 42,000 of that in just three months. She credits town's people's kindness generosity for that success.

"We had people call after they saw articles in newspapers". "Though they had been away from Sparkman for a long time, they saw the story and connected and made a donation and let us know that they appreciated what we're doing for their hometown."

Four of Sparkman's 12 high school graduates won a scholarship last summer, including Garrett's son Sam. He's now studying mechanical engineering at Arkansas Technical University in nearby Russellville.

"I'm planning on going back after I get out of the college". "Maybe me staying around would encourage a lot of peers to stay around too."

Sparkman is not the only small town facing a shrinking population.

"The United States, as a whole, is growing at a very rapid pace so the population growth is not the problem". "The problem is that population growth in the US is extremely uneven," Mark Mather, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau. "It's estimated that about 16 percent of the United States population lives in counties that are classified as non-metropolitan or rural counties. The number has dropped every decade for the past 100 years."

Those who live in small towns and rural areas point to the benefits. It's less stressful and cheaper than living in metropolitan areas. However, one of the primary reasons people move away is the lack of job opportunities.

"When conditions get that bad", "you end up in this vicious circle where new employers don't want to move in because there is not many people living there and no one wants to move there because there aren't any jobs."

The key to survival for these communities is job creation. Sparkman's Stephanie Harmon says that's the goal of their scholarship program - to ensure their town survives and thrives.

Related Stories:

New young artists honored with awards from Scholastic Corporation

一名新生的故事

不要吝惜你的幫助

Top student shuns studies for prayers

(來源:VOA 編輯:張若瓊)

 
中國日報網英語點津版權說明:凡注明來源為“中國日報網英語點津:XXX(署名)”的原創作品,除與中國日報網簽署英語點津內容授權協議的網站外,其他任何網站或單位未經允許不得非法盜鏈、轉載和使用,違者必究。如需使用,請與010-84883631聯系;凡本網注明“來源:XXX(非英語點津)”的作品,均轉載自其它媒體,目的在于傳播更多信息,其他媒體如需轉載,請與稿件來源方聯系,如產生任何問題與本網無關;本網所發布的歌曲、電影片段,版權歸原作者所有,僅供學習與研究,如果侵權,請提供版權證明,以便盡快刪除。
 

關注和訂閱

人氣排行

翻譯服務

中國日報網翻譯工作室

我們提供:媒體、文化、財經法律等專業領域的中英互譯服務
電話:010-84883468
郵件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn
 
 
主站蜘蛛池模板: 免费看一片 | 亚洲综合p | 99热久久国产精品免费看 | 国产一级一片免费播放刺激 | 爽死你个放荡粗暴小淫货双女视频 | 一区二区三区高清视频在线观看 | 99色视频在线观看 | 欧美三级在线 | 久青草青综合在线视频 | 香蕉成人国产精品免费看网站 | 99久久精品国产综合一区 | 国产伦精品一区二区三区四区 | 国产aⅴ一区二区三区 | 日本一区二区不卡视频 | 91啦中文成人| 天堂视频在线免费观看 | 欧美极品大肚孕妇孕交 | 黄网站色成年小说系列 | 综合在线视频 | 国产精品一区二区久久精品 | 91在线免费公开视频 | a毛片在线观看 | 一级特黄牲大片免费视频 | 亚洲欧美日韩天堂 | 99久久这里只精品国产免费 | 国产精品自拍视频 | 亚洲欧美国产高清va在线播放 | 欧美日本色| 成人α片 | 在线成人播放毛片 | 黄网在线观看免费 | 91视频国产精品 | 一级美国乱色毛片 | 中文字幕天堂最新版在线网 | 国产综合成人亚洲区 | 欧美久 | 2021精品国产品免费观看 | 国产真实生活伦对白 | 美女黄视频在线观看 | 永久免费毛片在线播放 | 成人欧美精品久久久久影院 |