Local foundation launches to help Gwinnett middle schoolers with college savings

Local foundation launches to help Gwinnett middle schoolers with college savings

Students at Lawrenceville’s Moore Middle School now have another reason to pursue a college degree.

Bernard Watson, the founder of a new education foundation, launched the effort in honor of his sister, who died four years ago following a fight against breast cancer. Watson said the program would offer college savings accounts and seed money to two classes of sixth-grade students at the school who were selected through a lottery.

The foundation is called S.T.E.P.P., which stands for Success Through Education Preparation and Perseverance, in honor of the Barbra Watson-Riley Striving Students Scholarship Program.