Commissioners approve mentorship program; Robert Morgan day declared

Henderson County commissioners agreed to give $50,000 to jump-start a mentoring program that would connect volunteers in the community with students at their Nov. 6 meeting.

Ten percent of Henderson County youth ages 16-19 are considered disconnected, meaning they are not in school or working, Henderson County Education Foundation Executive Director Peggy Marshall said in her funding request to the board. And that number is growing.

The mentorship program aims to help local youth at county schools by connecting them with a volunteer “success coach” who would check in with them once a month to talk about topics such as academics and attendance to post-secondary plans.

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Marshall proposed starting the program next school year with seventh-graders at Flat Rock Middle and ninth-graders at East Henderson High. The goal would be to extend the program to all middle and high schools.

The Education Foundation will manage the funds as well as a donor database and handle payroll, grant writing and promotion of the program. The $50,000 from the county will allow the foundation to hire a program coordinator to get the initiative rolling at the two schools. The funds will also allow the foundation to apply for grants and approach municipalities for contributions.

Marshall said she hopes the funding request will be a one-time ask, as the plan is to raise funds through grants to expand and sustain the program. The program would need 35 volunteer success coaches to start, with each mentoring about 15 students whose parents opted into the program.

Volunteers from the community would serve as mentors after passing background checks. Many people came forward to volunteer or help organize the program after an information session was held Aug. 30 at Blue Ridge Community College to gauge interest, Marshall said.

The mentorship program was inspired by the McNair Foundation in Rutherford County, in which adults meet one-on-one with students to provide mentorship, advice and motivation.

A committee was formed earlier this year to study the idea locally, host the informational meeting and choose the first schools. Flat Rock Middle and East Henderson were selected based on their dropout rate and grade advancement statistics.

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Nov. 18 declared Robert Morgan Day by commissioners

Henderson County commissioners Monday declared Nov. 18 “Robert Morgan Day” in recognition of his latest book, “Fallen Angel,” and the county native’s stellar literary career and contributions.

The author will hold a book signing and “Conversation with Robert Morgan” event for “Fallen Angel” at 2 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Community Room of the Historic Courthouse. His latest book is the biography of poet, novelist and short story writer Edgar Allen Poe.

The event will feature a conversation between Robert Morgan, poet Jesse Graves of East Tennessee State University and novelist Terry Roberts of the University of North Carolina-Asheville about Morgan’s literary career.

Morgan will autograph copies of the new biography and earlier books, which may be purchased at the Museum Gift Shop. Refreshments will be provided.

The book signing is sponsored jointly by the Henderson County Genealogical and Historical Society and the Henderson County Heritage Museum. Parking is available in the lot behind the Historic Courthouse.

Morgan is a native of Henderson County who still spends time here but is currently a professor of English at Cornell University. He has taught at Cornell since 1971.

He has written several novels and books of poetry. His books, Gap Creek and Return to Gap Creek, have their settings in the Green River area of Henderson County. Many of his books of poetry and novels arise out of his early life in Henderson County.

He attended school in Henderson County. He studied at North Carolina State University as an engineering and mathematics major, transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an English major graduating in 1965. He completed an MFA degree at UNC-Greensboro in 1968. He has received several awards for his writings.

Morgan said Poe was a gifted and complicated author of the weird and macabre. Focusing on Poe’s personal relationships, Morgan chronicles how several women influence his life and art.

Eliza Poe, his mother, died before he turned 3, but she haunted his life and art. The loss of Elmira Royster Shelton, his first and last love, devastated him and inspired much of his poetry.

Morgan shows that Poe, known for his gothic and supernatural writing, was also a poet of the natural world who helped invent the detective story, science fiction, analytical criticism and symbolist aesthetic.

Though he died at age 40, Poe left behind works of great originality and vision that the Fallen Angel explores with depth and feeling.

Christopher P. Semtner, Curator of the Edgar Allen Poe Museum in Richmond, Va., describes the new book as, “Like a character from one of his terror tales, Poe comes vividly back to life in this new biography. Morgan masterfully weaves together the threads of Poe’s life, literature, and legacy, while uncovering the love-starved romantic too often hidden behind his popular image as a horror master.”

Board Chairwoman Rebecca McCall read a resolution in favor of "Robert Morgan Day," recognizing Morgan as the author of 15 books of poetry, nine volumes of fiction and three non-fiction books.

"Now, therefore, the Henderson County Board of Commissioners expresses their deep admiration for the gifts and talents that Robert Morgan has brought to Henderson County, and the world at large, as a man of great academic achievement and a highly-prolific author of admired literature.

"On behalf of the citizens and staff of Henderson County, we proclaim Nov. 18 as Robert Morgan Day."

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Commissioners vote for mentoring program, declare Nov. 18 Robert Morgan Day