All Kids Are First School: The Old Espanola School House- St. Paul's Youth Center- All Kids Are First

Donors and benefactor of the Old Espanola School House - St. Paul's Youth Center

The St. Paul Youth Center Old Schoolhouse is a remnant of the days of segregation, but now a center of hope. It is the first black schoolhouse in Flagler County, Florida, in the town of Espanola. This settlement was originally set up for logging and turpentine production. Back then, two separate societies lived, and in 1972 Flagler was the last district to desegregate in Florida when a federal judge threw out the district's argument that there were "no blacks" in the county, only "Orientals." This legacy that has mostly disappeared, but still lingers in the neglect the small town sometimes receives from county and school administrations. The Schoolhouse was restored by Rev. Frank Giddens of the St. Paul’s Baptist Church, and is used to house an academic tutoring program and summer camp for the town’s disadvantaged youth.

Daytona Beach News-Journal Article- 2007

Space was cramped, and there wereno summer programs planned or given for the children there. Their peers elsewhere enjoy theme parks, field trips and other opportunities, transported by school district buses that never reach the small town. Thanks to the generosity of donors and sponsors like Bobby and Eileen Boyd, Special Ed Teacher Mark Noel, and the AKA Sorority of Palm Coast however, the children of Espanola have been able to break through some of these barriers and enjoy a normal summer. Their generosity extends beyond summer camp, but has also furnish supplies and equipment for an academic tutoring program at the old Schoolhouse, helping the kids there improve their reading, vocabulary and math skills.Their donations also helped refurbish and repair and expand the old building, so that today it stands as a viable entity for youth, with a link to the struggles of the past.

All Kids are First, Espanola, Florida, is a small non-profit school operation set up to aid in tutoring and educational efforts at the Old Schoolhouse. It seeks to promote educational engagement among at-risk youth, including youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders. It uses experimental methods including technology and modern media, joined to old school values. All kids, with or without autism can learn and have their horizons broadened. We seek to encourage them to have community pride, motivate them to fulfill their dreams, inspire them to succeed, open up new vistas and opportunities for insight, and build a sense of belonging and self-worth.