SELBYVILLE - The newest member of the Indian River High School Hall of Fame (2019-2020) is Fayetta M. Blake, honored for her national business skills and her local service to underserved communities in Sussex County. This honor was established to recognize graduates who have made significant achievements in their chosen fields and made noteworthy contributions to society. Since graduating with the IRHS Class of 1974, Ms. Blake has also demonstrated outstanding character, citizenship and leadership.

She is the founder and executive director of Pathways to Success, Inc., in Georgetown. Coming from her own humble beginnings, Ms. Blake created Pathways in 2006 to fight the impact of poverty in Sussex. Through youth mentoring and community outreach, her team wants to educate and empower Sussex Countians for successful lives.

“I know there are places we can help to keep kids in school, increase the graduation rate and decrease the dropout rate,” Ms. Blake said. “I wish we could work ourselves out of a job,” but until then, “we are to be good stewards and take care of” our neighbors.

At Indian River High School, she remembers the teachers who made school interesting or who championed for her personally — such as the math teacher who “embraced my brain,” taught her chess and encouraged her love of numbers, numerical relationships and all those things that make a great mathematician — or the music teacher who played classical music for students in the auditorium during the lunch hour.

“It’s amazing how the different teachers gave you different things,” Ms. Blake said.

She was among the first few students selected to integrate Selbyville Middle School, and “that was tough. I did have some hardships. There were even teachers at the time — some were for [integration], and some were against.”

Her grandmother taught her perseverance, to raise her hand even from the back of the room, to whisper the correct answer even when teachers wouldn’t call on her.

“For a while, that is what got me through … for me, knowledge meant everything. Knowledge meant getting my family and me out of poverty … education was the one thing that nobody can take away from you. They can’t take something that you know,” Blake said.

Ms. Blake is also a proud mother, grandmother, wife — and entrepreneur who enjoyed a 25-year career in banking. And in 1995, when Ms. Blake was named senior vice president of operations at the All First Financial company — she was the first African-American to obtain that position in the bank’s 200-year history.

Ms. Blake has received various honors in her career and in her life, including: 2015 Jefferson Award; 2018 Delaware Today’s Top Women in Business; and 2021 inductee to the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women. The IRHS Alumni Association looks forward to honoring Ms. Blake in a public venue in the future.

“I’m honored and I’m humbled. One of the things that I have prided myself on is wanting to give back and make a positive a difference in the community I grew up in,” Blake said. “I never dreamed of being recognized for something absolutely love to do. It is my passion to be able to give back, to be able to instill in some of the kids what was instilled in me, which is: Education is key! It is the great equalizer. It is the thing that will propel you forward. And helping people learn that … means everything to me and also to my family. This is my legacy to them.”

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2021-2022 IRHS Hall of Fame induction. Visit here for the application packet and details.