OHIO graduate's grant sends 30 children to Bobcat Academy at no cost

Thirty children spent a week at the Bobcat Academy on the Ohio University Southern campus this summer at no cost to their families, thanks to a $1,500 grant secured by an OHIO Southern graduate.

Isaac Floyd earned a bachelor's degree in middle childhood education in 2021, with concentrations in math and history. He now teaches sixth and eighth grade math at Rock Hill Middle School, the district where he grew up. The children that the Bobcat Academy serves are the children in his classroom, which is what drew him to the program.

"The more I learned about the academy, the more I thought these kids need to be in it, especially during the summer," Floyd said.

He saw more than enrichment in the week. For many children in the area, it also means daily meals and a safe place to spend the day.

Bobcat Academy runs for a full week each summer in Ironton and is open to students entering first through sixth grade. This year's session ran July 27-31 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with hands-on learning led by local experts and OHIO Southern faculty and staff. Campers moved through sessions in music, media, art, personal finance, yoga, Zumba, sustainability and gardening. Registration normally costs $50 for the week.

That $50 was the barrier Floyd wanted gone, and he already had a way to go after it. Floyd is a Growing Home fellow with the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, a program that asks its fellows to lead a community project alongside their professional development. Bobcat Academy was the fit he had been looking for.

The foundation launched the fellowship in 2023 and has since invested in more than 100 emerging leaders across 29 counties. Fellows work with K-12 students as educators and support providers commit to live, work and volunteer in the region for five years and take part in a leadership program built around coaching, service and skill development. Each year the foundation also opens a pitch competition to its fellows, a Shark Tank-style event where they make their case for project funding in front of a panel of judges.

Covering 30 students would take $1,500, and Floyd set that as his target. He prepared note cards, then left them on the table when his turn came.

"I was like, I'm just going to go for it," he said.

Weeks later the approval arrived. The admission fee was waived, and 30 children attended Bobcat Academy this year without their families paying anything.

The fellowship has invested in Floyd as well. He earned a master's degree from the American College of Education after finishing at OHIO, and through a foundation scholarship partnership with that same institution he received full tuition toward a doctorate, which he is pursuing now. His ties to Ohio University have held throughout. Floyd returns to his alma mater each term as an adjunct instructor, teaching courses including Teaching History in Ohio and mentoring professional interns.

Floyd and his wife Clarah, also an Ohio University Southern graduate, welcomed their first child, a son named Bo, in July, and the move to Rock Hill put him closer to family. Five years after finishing his degree, he is teaching in the district where he grew up and helping the children there find their way onto a college campus.

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