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Email our Volunteer Coordinator with questions about volunteering: thomaslayvc@gmail.com

Email our Public Relations Coordinator about potential outreach opportunities or other PR needs: thomaslaypr@gmail.com

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Holiday shopping for the kiddos with our TLay Exec

Holiday shopping for the kiddos with our TLay Exec board and some head mentors!

Hey guys! We’re allowing walk-in mentors again!

Hey guys! We’re allowing walk-in mentors again! Email: thomaslayed@gmail.com for details. Taking temps will be mandatory and safe practices outside the program will be required(no one who is out going dt right now). Come hang out with us!

This semester has really flown ✈️ by! Here’s

This semester has really flown ✈️ by! Here’s some fun crafts we got to make this semester!

Happy spooky month from Thomas Lay! People not vot

Happy spooky month from Thomas Lay! People not voting is very scary so make sure to check where you are registered and either order your absentee ballot 📬or check early voting places and times 🗳

Andddd we’re back! We had a successful first wee

Andddd we’re back! We had a successful first week of after-school mentoring! Our program is looking a bit different this semester: in order to keep our mentors and students as safe as possible while we are operating we are currently not allowing outside mentors. Head mentors and the executive team are running the days and masks are required in addition to social distancing practices required of everyone on our team. We will keep updating everyone as the semester continues and with any changes that might occur. For now, stay safe and mask up! 🖤 (pics from last semester)

Our thoughts go out to everyone impacted by recent

Our thoughts go out to everyone impacted by recent events. Ultimately, we are a community and we depend on each other to make progress in the world ❤️ We’d like to share a list of multicultural and social engagement books that are great for kids of every grade level to read while in quarantine. Check our story out to see the list.

Congratulations to our 2019-2020 Co-Executive Dire

Congratulations to our 2019-2020 Co-Executive Director, Nia Freeman, who is graduating with a BSFCS in Human Development & Family Science, a minor in African Language and Literature, and a certificate in African Studies. Nia spent 1 semester as a general volunteer, 1 as a head mentor, a year as the Co-Friday Project Coordinator on the executive board, and a year as the Co-Executive Director. She found it hard to choose one favorite memory, but she really enjoyed planning the Winter Holiday Explosion and Black History Month celebrations as a Friday coordinator.

Outside of Thomas Lay, Nia was involved with the Arch Society Member, was an RA with University Housing, served as a College of Family & Consumer Science Ambassador, was inducted in Blue Key Honor Society Member, and was selected for the Road Dawgs Leadership Team.

After graduating, Nia will teach elementary school as a Teach for America NJ Corps member. She will then pursue a masters of school counseling or social work.

Please join us in celebrating our amazing Co-Executive Director, Nia Freeman.

A huge congratulations to our 2019-2020 Co-Executi

A huge congratulations to our 2019-2020 Co-Executive Director, Sneha Gubbala, who is graduating with an M.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in International Affairs, with an Arabic Minor, a New Media Certificate! Sneha spent 1 semester as a general volunteer, 1 as a head mentor, 3 semesters as a PR Coordinator on the executive board, and a year as the Co-Executive Director. Her favorite T. Lay memory is our (unintentional) last day this semester when all the boys were so silly and goofy and having a dance party on the third floor.

Outside of Thomas Lay, Sneha served as the Co-President of Honors Program Student Council, a Tutor for UGA Athletic Association, a company dancer at DanceFX, and aPAL Mentor.
After graduating, Sneha will complete a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Bulgaria.
Please join us in celebrating our amazing Co-Executive Director, Sneha Gubbala.

A big congratulations to Elementary School Head Me

A big congratulations to Elementary School Head Mentor, Johanna Mercurio, for graduating with degrees in Psychology and Human Development & Family Science. She started volunteering with Thomas Lay in Fall 2016 and started coming more regularly in 2018. She then served as a head mentor for 2 semesters! She really enjoyed Februarys with T. Lay because of our Black History Month programming. She loves talking about leaders like Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks.
In addition to being a head mentor, she was involved with SGA, SAC, Grady Sports Bureau, UGA LIFE lab, and was an HTA.
Soon, Jo plans to be a community health fellow at an organization called Project Horseshoe Farm! The program includes doing instructional hours and teaching at the local elementary school, so she’ll be with a new group of young people.
Congratulations Jo!

Hey guys! Have you volunteered with us before and

Hey guys! Have you volunteered with us before and wondered how to get more involved? Our deadline for applications to be a Fall 2020 Head Mentor is approaching! This position involves dedicating at least one day a week to the program and working with a small group on that day to organize volunteers, snacks, homework, and run clubs or other activities. We welcome any and all majors to apply to become a part of our TLay family 🤍 link in bio

Congratulations to our Co-Middle School Coordinato

Congratulations to our Co-Middle School Coordinator, John Kolb, who is graduating with a degree in Marine Biology! John has been with Thomas Lay since January 2017 and has been a member of the Executive Board for three years. With three years of memories, choosing just one favorite is difficult, but John has always loved being a part of the Halloween festivities.
Outside of Thomas Lay, John is the President of Ocean Initiative. John will be continuing his time at UGA in the fall as a graduate student of Marine Sciences!
Please join us in celebrating our fantastic Co-Middle School Coordinator, John Kolb!

A big congratulations to Middle School Head Mentor

A big congratulations to Middle School Head Mentor, Vanessa Brown, for graduating a degree in Biological Science and a minor in Public Health! She has volunteered with Thomas Lay since Spring 2019 and has been a Head Mentor for the past year! Her favorite TLay memory was making unplanned funnel cakes for Middle School Cooking Club, which she calls the best Cooking Club to date since the kids were having so much fun!
In addition to Thomas Lay, Vanessa has been involved with the Arch Society, HOSA, Shop With A Bulldawg, IMPACT, and International Student Life.
After graduation, Vanessa will be attending Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Dentistry.

Let us congratulate Vanessa and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors!

We are so excited to congratulate our Co-Friday Pr

We are so excited to congratulate our Co-Friday Project Coordinator, Christian Sullivan in graduating with a master’s degree in Political Science, bachelor’s degrees in History and Religion, and a minor in Spanish! Christian has served with Thomas Lay since January 2017 and has been a member of the Executive Board for two years. His favorite TLay memory is being told by one of the kids that he was hanging out with Christian’s (non-existent) girlfriend and was going to steal her away from him!
In addition to his work with TLay, Christian has served as the Editor-in-Chief for the Georgia Political Review and an Honors Program Student Ambassador.
In the fall, Christian will be continuing his time in Athens at the University of Georgia School of Law.
Join us in celebrating our wonderful Co-Friday Project Coordinator, Christian Sullivan!

A big congratulations to our lovely Volunteer Coor

A big congratulations to our lovely Volunteer Coordinator Keyra Moran, who is graduating with a degree in Psychology! Keyra has volunteered with Thomas Lay since January 2017 and has served on the Executive Board for the past year. Her favorite TLay moment is playing a highly competitive and physically taxing game of freeze tag on the playground!
Outside of TLay, Keyra has served as the Member Relations Chair of UNICEF at UGA and as an Honors Teaching Assistant. She has also been involved in the Zeta Psi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Black Educational Support Team, ExperienceUGA, and Georgia Daze.
Keyra plans to return to UGA in the fall to complete her B.S.Ed and M.Ed in Elementary Education through the Double Dawgs Program to graduate in Spring 2021.

Please join us in congratulating our lovely Volunteer Coordinator, Keyra Moran!

Congratulations to Middle School Head Mentor Agbor

Congratulations to Middle School Head Mentor Agbor Eno for graduating with a degree in Sociology! He served at Thomas Lay as a general volunteer for about a year and as a MS Head mentor for a semester. One of his favorite T. Lay moments was when he got one of the kids who had been struggling, closed-off, and acting in frustration to open up and have an intentional conversation about what was going on.
Outside of being an after-school head mentor, he was involved with Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated, Alpha Kappa Delta International Honor Society, the Student Government Association, and the African Student Union.
Soon, he’ll be serving with the Peace Corps in Cameroon for 2 years and intends to pursue law school afterward.
Join us in celebrating Agbor!

In response to COVID-19 and to serve the Athens Co

In response to COVID-19 and to serve the Athens Community, which includes our afterschool students, service and leadership organizations at UGA have come together to start "Pandemic Relief: Bulldawgs Against Hunger"!
All proceeds are in support of the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia.
Follow @bulldawgsagainsthunger and visit https://www.ugafood2kids.com/bulldawgs-against-hunger for information and on more ways to donate!

I think we can all admit how much we are missing t

I think we can all admit how much we are missing the kids right now :( If you've volunteered with us, you know how much the kids love tik tok, so Exec put together this video doing the #fullhousechallenge and sent it to all the kids to hopefully brighten their day and to show them that we miss them and are thinking about them! Enjoy😂

✌🏽✌🏽 from Thomas Lay • • We wanted t

✌🏽✌🏽 from Thomas Lay
•
•
We wanted to go ahead and officially make the call that our program will not be continuing for the rest of the semester due to the suspension of in-person class at UGA as well as Lay Park's closing to the public in light of the COVID-19 concerns. This is really hard for us, but we know that it is the best decision for our students, mentors, and community.
We greatly appreciate all the hard work our volunteers have put in this semester and we hope that those of you who are returning to UGA will plan on returning as Head Mentors next semester!
Thank you Seniors who have put so much time and love into our program over the course of multiple semesters, and for that we are so so grateful! We are so sorry that we were not able to end this program as originally planned, but thank you so much for all your work and passion!

Lots of love for Black History Month!The kids part

Lots of love for Black History Month!The kids participated in Valentine's Festivities as well as learned about about many important black figures in our Black History Month Challenge. Younger students read books on historical figures while upper elementary did mini research projects on the figure of their choice! Swipe to see some of their work!

Rainy Days at Thomas Lay calls for science experim

Rainy Days at Thomas Lay calls for science experiments🌧🔍🧪

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Thomas Lay Park

297 Hoyt Street, Athens, Georgia 30601

Call the Thomas Lay Center: 706-613-3596

Sponsored by the University of Georgia Honors Program

Thomas Lay After-School Program

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