As part of an afternoon program, children are learning about their community through the lens of a camera.

The Community Enrichment Organization sponsors Support Our Students, a teen outreach program at Martin Middle School for seventh- and eighth-graders. During this four days a week program, students have been learning about the art of photography.

Thanks to a partnership between the Community Enrichment Organization (CEO), the Edgecombe County Cultural Arts Council, St. Luke's Episcopal Church and photographer Calvin Adkins, more than a dozen teenagers are able to learn about the art of expression through photography.

"This was made possible due to our receiving funds from the Edgecombe County Cultural Arts Council," said CEO Executive Director Doris Stith.

"The project is funded as a sub-grant of the Grassroots Arts Program of the N.C. Arts Council,” added Buddy Hooks, cultural arts director for the Arts Council.

“Edgecombe Arts Council is the N.C. Arts Council's designated county partner and we have the responsibility of distributing the funds, using state guidelines, to qualifying arts agencies. This particular project fulfills our need for outreach,” he added.

CEO received a $650 grant from the Arts Council and a $350 grant from the North Carolina Community Foundation. With the grants received, CEO was able to purchase three digital cameras for the students to use.

The purpose of the photography class is to expose young adults to photography as an art form. As young adults realize photography is an art form, it will increase their knowledge of the use of cameras as a means of expression, as explained on CEO’s grant application.

“The value of after school and summer programs is that they give exposure of the arts to students,” said Stith. “They can develop their creativity in a team approach. They learn they have a value and can make a contribution to the community.

“They have learned how to use a camera, to process pictures and how to value their work.”

CEO teamed up with Adkins, a veteran in the photography field, and had him to teach the students about photography.

"I did this out of my love for photos and kids," said Adkins. "It has been rewarding. I was amazed they picked up things I was teaching in class.

“With time, they got better and better. They skills they have learned they can take with them forever and it will make them better photographers.”

Adkins volunteers his free time to instruct the students in an art form he is passionate about. He has been a photographer for more than 20 years. He owns his own photography business and his photographs can be regularly viewed in The Daily Southerner.

During the course, Adkins taught students how to use digital cameras, how to find a subject and how to frame the subject within the view finder. He took students to visit their community as part of the project’s theme, “My Family, My Community.”

"Students were asked to take pictures of what they see in community with Calvin teaching them how to frame and create a subject," said Stith.

"With Buddy and Calvin's creativity, they came up with the concept of mounting and framing the pictures for more effect."

Students took a trip around Tarboro and Princeville to photograph places, subjects and things in their surroundings. Students visited the Courthouse, the Town Common, the old hospital building, Indian Lake and Sunset Park.

“This has enabled them to visit parts of the community like the Town Common and old structures in Princeville,” said Adkins.

“Photographs are a universal language. They tell stories. Photos of the 1800s, without them we would not know how well we have progressed since then.”

"You can be nine years old and looking at a picture taken (several years) back. You look at them for memories and stuff. You can put them in a photo album," said Kiana Barnes, 14.

"We went around taking pictures of monuments in Tarboro, the Courthouse, the Town Hall, Town Common, and I learned about traditional things in my community," said Jeremiah Cabbagestalk, 15.

"Until then I hadn't realized how long the monuments had been in Tarboro. Some of them are really old. The most interesting monument was the old hospital. I didn't know it used to be an old hospital."

The students work can be viewed in an exhibit to be held at 2 p.m. July 1 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall in Tarboro. All family, friends and community members are invited to attend.

Following a display at the hall, the exhibit will be shown at the Community Enrichment Organization Family Resource Center as well as the PTO meeting at Martin Middle School in August.

The Support Our Students after school program offers a variety of activities including homework time, tutorial for reading and math help, to name a few.

“This has been a wonderful experience. Now because we have cameras we can make this photography class a part of our summer and after school program,” said Stith.