Growing Connections for Pediatric Achievements

alumnae Help Children with Special Needs in Guilford County

One of the things that makes GCPA stand out, according to Executive Director Ma’Kayla Jefcoat, is that its programs are for children from birth to 3 years old. “A lot of other programs start at age 2,” she says. “But 80% of brain growth happens in birth-to-three. Two is a late start to be going into early intervention.”

Lexi Kier was recently selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Research Scholar. She is a doctoral student in public health education with a focus on athlete well-being. She became interested in the topic following an injury she experienced as a high school basketball player.

Doctoral Student Looks to Impact Public Health Policy, Mental Health

For Lexi Kier, sport has always been more than competition — it’s an intersection of joy and loss, community and pressure, and resilience and vulnerability. As a doctoral student in public health education at UNC Greensboro, she is building a research agenda that challenges how institutions understand athletes, particularly Black athletes.

Susanna Barton Graduation

Gerontology Alumna has Grand Plans 

Everyone ages, but not everyone prepares for it. UNCG alumna Susanna Barton helps caregivers, as well as those who are entering that stage of life.