[caption id="attachment_26333" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/COVER-NOC-4A.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-26333" src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/COVER-NOC-4A-300x225.jpg" alt="Volunteers and students checking out the new equipment." width="300" height="225" /></a> Volunteers and students checking out the new equipment.[/caption]

<em>Photo above: Mayor Billy Keyserling (left) with dignitaries before the ribbon cutting.</em>

The Neighborhood Outreach Connection (NOC), in partnership with the Beaufort County School District (BCSD), celebrated the Grand Opening for the NOC Learning Center at Marsh Pointe in Beaufort last Saturday.

Earlier this year, a $163,500 grant from a special committee of the SC Department of Education was awarded jointly to NOC and the BCSD to open two NOC Learning Centers in the city of Beaufort – one at Marsh Pointe and the other at Park View Apartments.

The Beaufort Housing Authority donated and renovated the Marsh Pointe community center for the NOC Learning Center there. The Atlantic Housing Foundation donated and renovated a unit at Parkview Apartments for NOC’s Learning Center in that complex.

[caption id="attachment_26331" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/COVER-NOC-1A-e1447939785580.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-26331" src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/COVER-NOC-1A-e1447939785580-300x242.jpg" alt="NOC supporters at the grand opening at Marsh Pointe." width="300" height="242" /></a> NOC supporters at the grand opening at Marsh Pointe.[/caption]

NOC has found that being physically present in the community builds trust and relationships. It allows both NOC and the BCSD to have a direct connection with the parents of its more than 45 students at the two centers and involve the community at a deeper level, empowering not just the children, but the entire neighborhood.

NOC, a nonprofit organization, along with BCSD teachers and volunteers, provides after school and summer school programs for low-income, minority children right in their own neighborhoods. In addition to school teachers, NOC students have access to technology with laptop computers to accelerate the learning process.