Watson-Brown Junior Board President Michael Edwards (left) presents a grant to Heritage Academy board chairman Phin Hitchcock and director Dr. Linda Tucciarone along with Junior Board member Darius Williams of Warren County High School (right) The Watson-Brown Foundation Junior Board – Thomson Chapter – has announced the awarding of a grant to the Augusta Heritage Academy, Inc., in the amount of $7,875 to assist with restoring the second floor of the Houghton School building for use as classrooms and student spaces.

Other grants made by the Junior Board this year include preservation funding to the Robert Toombs Historic Site in Wilkes County ($10,500), historic marker funding to the Edgefield Community Development Association ($2,625), and restoration funding to the North Wilkes Museum and Archives ($12,000).

Heritage Academy, located in the restored Houghton School at 333 Greene Street, Augusta, is an independent school offering a quality Christ-centered education to children of diverse economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds, empowering them to become a positive influence for Christ in this community and around the world. Heritage Academy has an intentional mission to the children of low-income families.

The Watson-Brown Foundation supports historic preservation in part through its Junior Board, a talented group of local high school students whose exclusive mission is to help preserve local history through a grant making process. The Junior Board’s past preservation projects have included the restoration of a Confederate banner for the Washington Historical Museum, conservation of grave markers at the historic Wrightsboro Cemetery, conservation of a founder’s painting for Burke County, and restoration of a grist mill for the Lincoln County Historical Society.

A substantial number of Wilkes County students have served on the Junior Board including several as president. Michael Edwards of Washington is the current president.