Success is measured by the lives he impacts

Anyone who knows Dwight Woods knows that he is truly passionate about his work with young people. Remarkably talented, he has spent the last 25 years giving from the heart to guide and counsel youth in the Upstate and throughout South Carolina. He has been teacher, mentor, coach, father, and friend to hundreds of youths who have benefited from his talents while participating in the Phillis Wheatley Repertory Theatre for Youth.

Although Dwight is an extraordinary vocalist, he never sings his own praises. However, his former students aren’t shy about telling of his impact on their lives. Lee Thompson Young, known for his starring role in The Famous Jett Jackson, credits his role as Dr. Martin Luther King in A Night of Stars and Dreams by Dwight Woods, and the Phillis Wheatley Repertory Theatre, as giving him his start and whetting his appetite for acting. His praise for Dwight resulted in a call from The Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School staff seeking his expertise to integrate arts its summer programming.

At the invitation of Children’s Defense Fund, Woods recently traveled to the historic CDF Haley Farm (former home of Alex Haley) in Clinton, TN to conduct a workshop for more than 300 Freedom School site coordinators and directors from around the United States. Woods states that the experience was truly an honor and he looks forward to continuing his work with the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School Program®.

For more information in the Children’s Defense Fund and its Freedom School® Program, visit www.childrensdefense.org