Lumberton Sr. High School Mentor/Youth Handshake Program

Agenda

1.  Why We Are Here Today 2.  What is the Handshake Program 3.  Who We Assist 4.  Who We Are 5.  What Makes Us Different 6.  Our Strategic Aspirations 7.  Our Resources 8.  Key Performance Indicators 9.  Community Benefits 10.  Risks 11.  Our Commitment 12.  What We Are Seeking 13.  Summary

Why We Are Here Today

•  Lumberton Senior High School has an 82.5% graduation rate •  44% of high school graduates from Lumberton Senior High

School attend a 4 year college •  In contrast, only 12.9% adults over 25 in Robeson County

have a Bachelors Degree (NC Average – 27%)*

*Data from US Census Bureau 2008 – 2012 “After high school, I felt prepared for college academically, and socially. When I got here, it was tough to adjust mentally and emotionally.”** **https://k12.niche.com/lumberton-senior-high-school-lumberton-nc/educational-outcomes/

Why We Are Here Today

•  If 82.5% of students graduate from high school, 44% of which attend 4-year universities, why are only 12% of people over the age of 25 in Lumberton college educated?

•  It is time for those of us who have benefited from being educated at a U.S. News & World Report – Bronze Rated high school to give back to our hometown.

•  Those who remain in Lumberton should not have to solely carry the weight to be positive influences. No sector can tackle deep-rooted social problems alone.

•  Those who have left home must explore the potential for a partnership with the communities, businesses, and youth in our hometown.

The objective of the Handshake Program is to ensure that all

young people in our region have the ability to engage those who grew up in a similar environment in order to more successfully

navigate the transition from high school student to post-graduate life.

What Is The Handshake Program Playtime: How This Should Play Out

Below is a hypothetical story of what we would like to see as an outcome from a typical youth participating in the our program:

•  Jaden was a 10th grade student at Lumberton Senior High School

•  He was an extremely intelligent student and scored well on tests, and his local mentors kept him on the straight and narrow path toward graduation

•  Although Jaden was a good kid and productive member of the community, there was no one with whom he could ask questions about what he wanted to do for a living

•  Jaden was provided with an online mentor through the Handshake program, selected from our database of volunteers and given access to our extensive archive of industry-specific interviews

•  Jaden was also paired with other kids in the community who were interested in similar careers; they were able to build supportive relationships and networks both on and offline

•  Jaden was able to not only improve his self-worth by leveraging the Handshake Program, he was also able to be more prepared for life after high school

What Is The Handshake Program: A Volunteer’s Story

I love my hometown. I bet most of you all do too, but being from Lumberton, we all know how hard it is to get a good understanding of industries that are not represented in our hometown. While many of us have gone on to work in fields we may have never known existed while growing up, most of us have unfortunately had to leave our great hometown to get there. Fortunately in the digital age, leaving it behind only means in a physical form! I volunteered for the Handshake Program so I could help us proud hometown former residents create the "yellow brick road" for the kids back home who may be interested in an industry, but have no real world perspective on how to get there. We are committed to giving back and loving it! Each one. Teach one.

Who We Assist

The Handshake Program focuses on young people in 10th to 12th grade

who:

•  Are at risk of disengagement from education, training, and employment

•  Have already disengaged from these opportunities

•  Have post-graduate intentions and would like access to mentors

•  Would like to see what the world looks like outside of Lumberton, but have no means to access it

Who We Are: Organizational Structure

Leadership

Mentorship/Volunteer Services

•  Virtual Mentor Session Leader (via Google Hangouts) •  Industry Interview Participant •  Industry Write-up Participant

•  Internship Partner •  Administrative/IT Volunteer

•  Planning & Coordination Volunteer •  Public Speaker

Anthon Braddy – Chair CEO, SocialGrade

Executive Officer – Technology & Mentorship

TBD Executive Officer – Education & Outreach

TBD Executive Officer – Business & Internships

Who We Are: Industry Focus

•  Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals •  Consulting •  Finance •  Sales & Retail •  Legal •  Information Technology •  Social Good (ex. Social Work/Non-profits) •  Housing & Real Estate •  Food, Beverage & Hospitality •  Agriculture, Construction & Manufacturing •  Military •  Cosmetology •  Ministry •  Journalism/Mass Communications, Advertising &

Marketing

What Makes Us Different

•  We invest in the individual: We see improvements to achievement, life skills, personal development and social skills as essential means to an end

•  We focus on long term sustainable change: that targets increased participation in education, training and employment

•  Retention Strategy is crucial: Our program will have strong retention strategy to provide youth with a continued connection to home

•  Context is key: All of our work is designed to meet the needs of young people and the community in which they live – including local industry

Our Strategic Aspirations: TBD

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 2nd Qtr 2nd Qtr

We want to: Improve and expand the current student/volunteer membership baseExpand our scope to include:

Young people transitioning to post-schoolYoung people who are disengaged from education, training and employment

Our Resources: TBD

Our People •  Staff = TBD •  Volunteer mentors = TBD •  Mentees = TBD Our Funding •  Total funding = TBD

–  By source

Other Essential Partners •  Board of Education – Public Schools

of Robeson County •  TBD

Our Assets •  Computers (TBD) •  TBD

68%

12%

20%

Funding Source Goals

Business

Donations

Grants

Key Performance Indicators

Metrics TBD (Samples) n  Measure high-school graduation percentages of kids who participate

in the Handshake program

n  Measure college graduation percentages of kids who participate in the Handshake program

n  Measure volunteer hours per month

n  Measure volunteer retention percentages

n  Measure youth retention percentages

n  Measure year-end/exit survey responses

Community Benefits

Through working with the Handshake Program, mentors are likely to gain:

•  Improved communication skills •  A better understanding of adolescent youth •  An increased capacity to negotiate and problem solve

•  A stronger sense of pride in our hometown and hopefulness from active involvement in fostering a better environment

Through working with the Handshake Program, businesses are likely to gain: •  Raised public profile through our recognition on any materials produced

for this project

•  A stronger local community with more young people as active members – both socially and economically

•  Access to talented young people within your local area that could be potential employees

Working in partnerships is our core business!!!

Risks

Risk Control measures

Financial stability TBD

Ability to maintain partnerships TBD

Operational and legal TBD

Our Commitment

We will ensure that volunteers and youth participants receive:

•  Recognition and promotion of their

contributions through use of logos and quotes on marketing materials and hosting of content created by the program

•  Training of all volunteers to work along side our staff and mentors

•  Invitations to events in which the Handshake Program participates, including launches with event leaders and their staff

•  Community access to the many networks that we convene or in which we participate

What We Are Seeking

•  To capture the imagination and support of the corporate sector as well as our community and volunteers

•  To involve young people and volunteer mentors in the design, development and implementation of the Handshake Program

•  To seek partners to provide assistance in fundraising, promotion and marketing, participant identification, event planning and community engagement

•  To increase the attractiveness of our hometown and create a dialogue around post-high school migration patterns while brainstorming on how we can reverse the trend*

*If we could get attract 15% more graduates either from our own kids who go to college or outside graduates, how would that impact the tax revenue, government makeup, social discourse, etc. of our hometown?

Summary

We can work together to create a great program that benefits local businesses, our young people and our community. n Next Steps:

¨ Internal discussions ¨ Agree date for follow up