DURHAM, N.C. — One Durham nonprofit is working to increase the number of Black students enrolled in the state’s Academically or Intellectually Gifted (AIG) Program. According to April 2022-2023 data from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, of all the students enrolled in the AIG program, 10% are Black and 65% are white. For comparison, about 24% of the state’s student population is Black while 44% is white.

What You Need To Know

  • One Durham nonprofit is working to increase the number of Black students enrolled in the state’s AIG Program

  • Of all the N.C. students enrolled in the AIG program, 10% are Black and 65% are white

  • Empowered Parents in Community (EPIC) is helping change that statistic by educating and connecting parents

  • The founder and executive director of EPIC was motivated by personal experiences as a parent

The nonprofit Empowered Parents in Community (EPIC) is leading the effort to close the educational opportunity gap.

Jovonia Lewis is the founder and executive director of EPIC.

“We stand in a gap for parents, whether or not they can or choose not to be engaged in the way the school wants them to be engaged. But we want to make sure that every student has a fair opportunity to reach their full potential,” Lewis said.

She has a counseling background and didn’t think she’d be running a nonprofit, but it was born out of experience in her own role as a mom to three boys.

“Getting involved into this work was just a natural progression for me and wanting to create change for my kid but other kids that look like my kid as well,” Lewis said.

Lewis says, several years ago, she noticed her oldest son was great with math and science but believed he wasn’t being challenged. She says she learned about the state’s AIG program by talking to other parents, not through the school.

“I got that information on a playground. But when I looked around, there were no other parents that looked like me out there,” Lewis said. “There's things that we also take for granted or what's happening in the school system. And you don't know. You just don't know.”

 

According to 2022 data from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, Black students represent about 40% of Durham’s overall student body, but black students represent 7.8% of students enrolled in the AIG program.

DPI’s 2020 “A Call to Action: Equity and Excellence" brief states, “We must take actions to increase access and opportunity, which increases achievement and growth for all. We must assure that students' racial, ethnic, economic, or other demographic factors do not reduce their likelihood of access and successful participation in advanced programming. By realizing equity and excellence in gifted education, schools will help all students reach their full potential.”

EPIC is working to change those statistics by, first, connecting parents to each other and educating them about opportunities.

“When you learn, teach. And as I'm learning it now and I'm getting this information, I'm going to tell as many people as I can,” Lewis said. “That's why we said we got to let parents know at K-5 that there's these opportunities and we need to figure out what the root causes is and what we can do as parents, families, caregivers, community to disrupt those places and get the change and the results that our kids need.”

To help close the education opportunity gap, Lewis says EPIC is coordinating community meetings, advocating for education funding priorities, participating in state level discussions and more. She says it’ll take time but believes this is a start.

“Being a counselor, just the fact that people are having the conversation and talking about it makes a big difference,” Lewis said.

EPIC has a presence in about 13 Durham public schools and recently expanded to Alamance County as well. Lewis says their next meeting is on Dec. 5.

For more information about this Durham nonprofit, visit EPIC’s website.