Every summer, a group of academically gifted middle school students gathers for a program with an ambitious goal: to help them overcome obstacles that could make it difficult for them to reach their full potential.
Jacob’s Ladder is a year-round enrichment program for talented 9- to 14-year-olds who may lack the support they need—perhaps because of poverty or a stressful home environment—to develop the social and leadership skills required to achieve success as adults.
“They are all intellectually bright kids, and we provide them with the opportunities to use their talents the way they should,” said director Catherine Coggeshall of the program based in Urbanna and founded in 1991.
The centerpiece of the program is a four- or five-week residential summer camp in Tappahannock for more than 40 middle schoolers from across Virginia. The participants, known as Climbers, start the program at the end of fourth or fifth grade and return to camp every summer until….
