Historic Black College Tour

Recently, 84 Minnesota students returned from a five day trip- touring colleges and universities in the South. The 8^th annual HBCU college tour, sponsored by the Education Ministry at Progressive Baptist Church (on Burns Avenue) in St. Paul, exposed students to campus life at various HBCUs in Oklahoma and Texas including: Langston University, Texas College, Wiley College, Prairie View A&M University, and Texas Southern University.

Every October, the Education Ministry takes students, who otherwise would not have an opportunity, on tours of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).  These tours have proven to be great successes as 95% of the students who have participated in these tours have gone on to pursue higher education.

It is the vision of Rev. Dr. Earl F. Miller; Senior Pastor, and JoAnn Clark; Education Ministry Chair, that every child be exposed to higher education.

“We are just living our mission of providing our youth with the tools and support necessary for educational and lifelong success.”  This is Mrs. JoAnn Clark’s passion; providing youth with an opportunity to succeed.  She is doing that through the Education Ministry at Progressive Baptist Church. (JoAnn is also a long-standing board member of the District 1 Community Council.)

Driven and motivated by her love for youth, JoAnn has orchestrated numerous programs which include mentor matching, tutoring, outreach and others. This ministry provides an atmosphere that is conducive to learning and allows individual intellectual growth. Progressive’s Education Ministry does not just stop at home.  It thrives on reaching all youth in the community, regardless of religious affiliation.

As stated by Rev. Dr. Earl F. Miller; “We want to expose young people to post high school educational opportunities and sometimes you have to go to those opportunities.”

Next fall, students will be headed to North Carolina. To find out more about the tour, to donate, or to inquire about participating in next year’s tour, email pbccollegetour@gmail.com or visit the website at www.wix.com/pbccollegetour/progressive