Leading through Literacy: LEAP
It’s been a decade since Dr. Claire and Mike Robinson started their educational non-profit, LEAP, and if you ask them about their plans for the future, they show no signs of slowing down. Proudly built around their motto, “Leap into knowledge so I can go to college,” LEAP serves upwards of four hundred kids, boosting their education and helping to set them on a path toward college. While the program has expanded and now includes an afterschool program, a summer camp, and much more, its mission stems from a very simple concept.
“LEAP stands for ‘Literacy Empowers All People,’” explains Claire, President & CEO of LEAP, who runs the program alongside her husband. “Our mission is to help eradicate poverty through literacy. We provide education and resources to families to empower them to live their best lives, but it all starts with that initial ability to read.”
That simple vision is what served as the genesis for LEAP. Born in Winston-Salem, Claire has a background in technology. Having taught at Guilford Technical Community College, she has also worked for the city of High Point as a consultant for its technology department. On top of her work for the city, Claire is a pastor alongside her husband. And it was in that role that Claire and Mike were first inspired to start LEAP. It all started with one student who needed a little extra support. And Pastors Claire and Mike were willing to step up to the plate.
“We met this family and their son needed help with his homework, so we started to stay after church to help him,” recounts Claire. “And as we had started working with him, more and more students came for help.”
At the same time, through her work for the city, Claire became connected with Angelo Kidd, High Point’s school superintendent at the time. Seeing the impact of the work the Robinsons were doing, Angelo suggested they bring their program directly into the school system, an opportunity that Claire and Mike decided to take. Starting at Fairview Elementary School, LEAP expanded to include several other school sites.
“We never actually planned to have a program,” says Claire. “We were just looking to help one child and it just blossomed from there. Eventually, he got into HPU on a full scholarship and he is now a pharmacist right here in town. That's the kind of success story that we want to continue to have.”
On an average day of the school year, kids visit one of the five LEAP locations after classes end. Once they’ve finished their homework and reading, the kids have time for educational activities, playing outdoors, and are provided with a hot meal.
From June to August, LEAP runs their summer program: Camp Carey. An all day affair, Camp Carey keeps the kids busy with dance and sports programs, along with their educational activities.
Outside of their day to day operations, LEAP has two mentorship programs, Boys2Men and Girls2Ladies. Along with fostering growth and character development, the programs help provide positive male and female role models for the young boys and girls.
“The two programs are comparable, but their needs are a little different,” explains Claire. “A lot of the children come from fatherless homes or single parent families, so the boys aren’t always used to hearing a guiding male voice. With the girls, a lot of times it's a need to develop their self esteem, so we have different ladies come in to give them a positive example.”
Meeting the kids where they are at, the groups work to develop the kids, giving them lessons in financial literacy, bringing them on college visits, and even taking them to the occasional basketball game.
“We try to provide these other enrichment opportunities for children who otherwise wouldn't have them,” explains Claire. “It’s all a part of this holistic approach; what we're developing is a citizen. We want to help foster someone who's going to contribute to the community in a better way.”
With this holistic approach in mind, LEAP has worked to support not only High Point’s children, but their families as well. LEAP also holds monthly parents’ meetings. Through collaborations with local services, the meetings invited various speakers, provided meals for the families, hosted financial workshops, and even offered flu and COVID shots.
“When we started, we were just working with the children,” says Claire, “and then we realized that we needed to be working with the families, because that’s what the kids are going back home to.”
"It’s all a part of this holistic approach; what we're developing is a citizen. We want to help foster someone who's going to contribute to the community in a better way.”
- Dr. Claire Robinson, President & CEO of LEAP
With LEAP’s vision encompassing more and more, Claire and her team have been working to establish a new flagship location for LEAP’s programs. With Life on Lexington Church as their future base of operations, Claire and Mike have plans to transform it into their LEAP to Life Resource Center, providing rooms for young children, classrooms, sports facilities, and even a dance studio. In addition, LEAP has recently added mental health resources with the incorporation of an on staff psychiatrist to meet the needs of children and families.
“We saw that as a major issue that needed to be addressed,” Claire explains. “Coming out of COVID, a lot of children were experiencing mental health issues,”
“Mental health is make or break,” adds Dr. Tina Okonkwo, the psychiatrist who now works with kids attending LEAP. “If your mental health is not sound, it will derail anybody. The good thing is that with programs like LEAP, we are able to help the children in time; it makes a world of difference for everybody.”
Despite their big plans for the future, Claire and Mike have always remained focused on who their program is really for: the kids.
As LEAP has continued to be a resource for children and families, it’s clear that they have truly managed to make an impact on High Point’s students. Just ask any of the kids who attend LEAP’s programs, like Jacquilynn, an eighth grader who has been attending LEAP programs since she was in elementary school.
“They are actually into helping you get your grades up and helping you know what you want to happen in the future,” Jacquilynn says of the LEAP staff. She and her three sisters have made a variety of memories through the programs and people that make up LEAP. While their time with LEAP has been full of fun (trips to Carowinds, swim lessons, and birthday treats), many of the lessons Jacquilynn and her sisters are learning, she can already see impacting their future.
“You never know what the world can give you,” the middle schooler reflects, tying her future career paths and goals to the ways she’s learned to pursue her education at LEAP.
“I want to be a business woman because of Mrs. Robinson,” she says of her future. “All of the things she’s done have inspired me to be a better person and I really want to make her proud… LEAP has been like a second family.”
Even as LEAP becomes a larger operation, it’s small stories like Jacquilynn’s that keep Claire and Mike working to impact the lives of High Point’s children.
“As individuals, I think we all need to know that somebody is in our corner to cheer us on and push us ahead,” says Claire. “We are not in this world alone. We are all here for a purpose and that purpose is always tied not to a program, not to a project, not to a business, or to a mission. Our purpose is always tied to a person, and that's what LEAP is about.”
WAYS TO SUPPORT LEAP
GIVE
Want to be part of empowering literacy for High Point students? Give now to support LEAP's mission. (Right now, to celebrate their 10-year anniversary, all gifts given will be matched through June!).
LEARN
Explore LEAP's programs and information online today!
Discover our High Points,
The HPD Team