Tiffany and Terra Stocks were 5 when their mother first took them to the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs.
The girls don't remember that day. But their mother, Cathey Stocks, certainly does.
"They cried that first day," she said. "But we got through that."
In the more than 10 years that followed, the club became an integral part of the girls' lives.
"It's been wonderful," Stocks said. "I am a single parent and needed a place for my kids to go. It has helped me ease the burden."
Often, they would go to the club after school while Stocks -- who works for the city of Winston-Salem's transportation department -- was at work.
Through the club, they learned how to use computers. They went on a field trip to Washington. In middle school, they met regularly with other
girls to talk about life and the best ways to deal with the issues that come up. They participated in such service projects as cleaning up highways and volunteering at a soup kitchen. They visited colleges. They ate at the Piedmont Club.
"It gave us opportunities you couldn't find anywhere else," said Terra, 16.
The girls are fraternal twins and Tiffany is fractionally older than Terra.
On weekdays, about 200 young people from kindergarten through high school go to the club to do homework, play games and take classes. This fall and winter, the girls have been taking a once-a-week Career Skills class at the club. They got to talk to people already out in the working world and they learned how to write a resume, interview for a job and dress for success.
Terra particularly enjoyed what she learned in the class about table etiquette.
"A gentleman is always supposed to get up when a lady is leaving the table," Terra said.
"Or coming to the table," Tiffany said.
On Tuesday, the girls will be back at the Piedmont Club -- along with about 20 other young people who took the Career Skills class -- for a celebration.
Pappi Conrad, the club's director, had high praise for both the girls and their mother.
"They are just good girls," Conrad said. "She did an absolutely wonderful job raising them. They know the importance of hard work and staying focused, particularly with education."
Through the years, the girls routinely made the honor roll. Today, they are sophomores at Parkland High School.
Stocks said that she was blessed with great kids and has also had vital support in raising them -- from family, from the people at work and from their church, Greater Cleveland Avenue Christian Church.
"I have been taught I can do anything if I put God first," Stocks said. "You have to work hard at it."
Each of the girls knows for sure that she plans to go on to college. Terra is thinking about N.C. A&T State University or UNC Charlotte. Tiffany is thinking about The Art Institute of Charlotte.
What they want to become is still in flux. Tiffany is thinking about fashion design.
"Tiffany loves to do things with her hands," her mother said. "She loves to sew."
Terra is thinking about sound engineering.
"I want to produce music," she said.
Then again, she might want to become a sports manager.
At the present, Terra said, she is focusing on "learning how to be a young lady and how to treat people."
"To be respectful," Tiffany said.
kunderwood@wsjournal.com
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