RCEF: We're Writing the Next Chapter
The Rockingham County Education Foundation is pausing programs for the summer and early fall of 2025 as we undergo a strategic planning process for the next chapter of service to students, teachers, and schools. What started as a vision from local leaders in 2008 grew into lasting change: college advisors in every high school, transformative scholarship programs, and innovative projects like Trails K12 that reimagined outdoor learning. While this chapter of RCEF's has ended, we are looking forward to our next phase of growth. This is the story of what we accomplished together so far.
The Vision That Started It All
Founded in 2008 by local business leaders, educators, realtors, and government officials, the Rockingham County Education Foundation emerged from a simple recognition: our rural community needed stronger educational pathways to thrive economically. The goal wasn't just to support schools—it was to raise educational attainment and create the foundation for attracting businesses and opportunity to Rockingham County.
Our partnership with the Carolina College Advising Corps and the Reidsville Area Foundation put a full-time college advisor in every high school in the county. These aren't guidance counselors with dozens of responsibilities—they're recent college graduates whose sole job is helping students, especially first-generation and low-income students, navigate the path to higher education.
Scholarships That Honor Stories
RCEF helped create scholarships that recognize student achievement. The Charlie Poole Scholarship support Rockingham County students pursuing music education, understanding that the arts are essential pathways to learning and expression.
The Lindsay Apple Legacy Created with the Apple family and Reidsville High School, this scholarship honored a 1999 IB graduate who embodied everything the program represents. Lindsay built structures on mission trips and relationships wherever she went. Though we lost her in 2010, the scholarship ensured her light continued to shine on Reidsville's IB program—supporting students who demonstrated character, leadership, and resilience.
Why Scholarships Mattered Beyond the Money
These scholarships tell students their dreams had names and faces attached to them. They connect young people to a legacy of achievement that stretches through our community's history and into its future.