Monthly Archives: February 2017

A Conversation with AchieveMpls

Posted on by
Reply

As the strategic nonprofit partner of Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), AchieveMpls mobilizes our community’s resources to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the tools and support they need to be career and college ready.

The overall graduation rate in MPS is 64 percent (79 percent in comprehensive high schools) but the gap between white students and many students of color is over 20 percent. There is a tremendous opportunity for improvement.

The January Salon discussion focused largely on how AchieveMpls gives students the right tools and information to make choices for their future. By 2020, 74 percent of all jobs in Minnesota will require some form of post-secondary education.  However, not every student is interested in a two or four year post-high school program, so AchieveMpls works with each student to ensure they know their available options.

This kind of guidance isn’t always built into students’ high school experience. For example, the best practice counseling ratio is about 250 students for every counselor. In Minneapolis Public Schools, it is closer to 792 students for every counselor. Which means not every student is getting the level of attention he or she needs. AchieveMpls is focused on ensuring students have support in learning about college and career options that suit their skills and vision for their future. They do this through three primary programs:

Career and College Centers
Located in 10 MPS high schools, CCCs offer career and post-secondary education planning resources for 3,500+ students every year.

Step Up Achieve
This program provides work-readiness training, paid internships and professional mentoring to over 700 Minneapolis youth each year in partnership with 150 top Twin Cities employers.

Volunteers
Each year, AchieveMpls connects students with over 800 volunteers who serve as Graduation Coaches, career exploration volunteers and mock interviewers.

To learn more, visit AchieveMpls.org.

JLM Advocacy: Inspiring members to action

How Can Four Years Last a Lifetime?

Posted on by
Reply

Picture a laser beam. Then think of how aiming that laser at your eye, in the hands of an expert, can change your life from coke-bottle glasses to clear vision. One small intervention can change everything — for life.

That’s how Wallin Education Partners functions: one small intervention – a college scholarship of about $4,000 per year — can change one life, for a lifetime. This year Wallin is changing the lives of 540 students and has helped 4,000 students since its creation in 1992.

What does college have to do with the opportunity/achievement gap?

Consider…

·         A college graduate will earn nearly $1M more in his or her lifetime than a high school graduate. Just think about those ripples: that’s more in taxes, less reliance on safety nets and beyond money, better health overall.

·         Likelihood of college graduation goes down if you’re lower income; a person of color; first in the family to go to college. In fact, only 11% of kids who fit that criteria will complete a degree.

·         If you look at top income quartile in the U.S., 77% of those families go to college; in the lowest quartile, only 9% do so.

Clearly a college education plays a major role in equity.

Started by Win Wallin, a former Medtronic CEO and his wife Maxine (a member of the Junior League of Minneapolis and Katherine Phelps award-winner), the organization fulfills his vision to give others the same opportunities he had. The Wallins quickly realized that throwing money at the problem wasn’t the solution. Simply helping more colleges provide more scholarships wouldn’t work. That’s why they “broker” the scholarships so they can both choose kids who need the help and then literally surround each student with support. As in, a master’s level professional who’s there for each student, through all 4 (or 5) years of college.

Another unique component: donor partners, like the Junior League. The scholars know they’re accountable not just to their advisor but also to this partner — in fact they have to report how they’re doing twice a year. (And if you’re curious, our 15 scholars have a 100% graduation rate!)

Who are these scholars? Donor partners can make specific requests (for example JLM sponsors girls who have strong community involvement), but all need a 3.0 grade point average. The vetting process and the support have paid huge dividends: the graduation rate for Wallin scholars is 92% compared to a national average of 59%.

If you want to get involved, email Melissa Burwell (JLM member and Deputy Director) to find out about their Feb 10 meet-up event, and follow them @Wallin_92 or on Facebook. Their 25th gala is coming up this fall.

 

JLM Advocacy: Inspiring members to action

FreeArts (Salon Series Recap)

Posted on by
Reply
Free Arts Minnesota’s mission is to bring caring adults alongside youth in challenging circumstances.  Free Arts believes in team-style mentoring, and requires a regular commitment from their volunteers.  This commitment is necessary because these children have been disappointed by the adults in their life, or the only adults they interact with are authority figures like case workers.  These kids are waiting for the other shoe to drop and it’s important that they experience the consistency of regularly spending time with caring adults, time and people they can count on.
Free Arts Minnesota engages the children in a wide variety of arts learning.  They do not do “crafts” with the kids.  They engage in all art mediums with a rigorous curriculum that allows the children to learn, create, and provides them with the opportunity to lead.
The work Free Arts Minnesota does with children is important because as Sara stated, “kids can achieve; they just need to opportunity to do so.”  The children Free Arts works with typically score high on the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) scale.  Adverse childhood experiences have been shown to lead to social and emotional impairment, adoption of high-risk behaviors, disease, and in some cases death.  When children come to Free Arts, they have experienced a level of trauma in their young lives that some people will not ever experience.
Scientific research has shown that there is a connection between brain development and engaging in the arts.  Through arts learning, children who have experienced setbacks due to adverse childhood experiences can gain social and emotional development, diversion from current life circumstances, increased focus, and better academic performance.  Arts learning encourages pro-social behavior, so it also has been shown to increase an understanding of social justice and encourages children to be better citizens.
JLM Advocacy: Providing education to inspire members to action