CHOICES Champion
The CHOICES Champion brings you news and information about the CHOICES program, management tips, case studies and more. We welcome your suggestions, submissions and comments, which can be sent to info@choices.org or to your primary CHOICES contact.
CHOICES NEWS:
CHOICES mentioned in AMERICA's PROMISE newsletter:
Bank of America and CHOICES Education Group mark a decade of keeping
teens "into" school
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Ingrid Page, an operations team manager at Bank of America in Atlanta, has written a motto she uses to inspire herself every time she enters a new 8th grade classroom to deliver the CHOICES workshop. It reads, “Making a difference, one day at a time, with hopes of reaching our children, while encouraging them to strive for the most out of life. It’s all about life CHOICES.”
Page is one of several hundred Bank of America associates that together will contribute more than 1,500 volunteer hours this school year to deliver CHOICES, a nationally recognized interactive decision-making workshop that empowers teens to achieve academic success in pursuit of their career and life aspirations. (Read More)
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CHOICES IN THE FIELD:
Sea Island Rotary serves 2,000 Beaufort 8th graders!
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"CHOICES is a unique example of how education and business can work together to benefit students as they prepare for adult life." |
During the past four years, the Sea Island Rotary Club has made CHOICES possible for all eighth grade students in Beaufort’s four middle schools. According to Dave Walker, Lowcountry Regional Career Specialist and CHOICES Program Manager, “The Sea Island Rotary Club’s financial commitment has made it possible for more than 2,000 Beaufort 8th grade students to participate in this powerful program. More than 30 Sea Island Rotary Club members and other community volunteers have led discussions and facilitated interactive exercises with students in approximately 240 classroom sessions at Beaufort, Lady’s Island, Robert Smalls and Whale Branch Middle Schools since 2007.”
The Sea Island Rotary Club has devoted so much of their resources and time to champion CHOICES in their community because their primary focus is on education. The Club also sponsors Junior Achievement, weekly math and reading programs for students, a junior leadership program and an Interact Club. CHOICES fits well with their overall educational goals and the Club members feel that it has a powerful and lasting effect on their students.
In the words of Carlotta Ungaro, President and CEO of the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Club’s Chair for the CHOICES Committee and a CHOICES presenter, “CHOICES is a unique example of how education and business can work together to benefit students as they prepare for adult life. What could be more immediate, more long lasting, or more cost effective than changing student attitudes about education and encouraging them to do more with what is already available to them?” |
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The Dropout Epidemic
- 7,000 teens become high school dropouts every school day
- High correlation with being jobless, homeless & in prison
- Earn $260,000 less than H.S. graduates over lifetime
- Cost nation $209,000 each for healthcare, welfare and crime
- We incur $1.5 billion in future losses every school day
The CHOICES Response
- Personal empowerment & personal responsibility
- Connect school to the future
- Nearly 1,000 teens served every school day
- 1,800 community volunteers in 46 states
- Cost of less than $5 per teen
The CHOICES Impact
- Over 5 million served since 1985
- 88% approval rating from students
- 97% approval rating from teachers
- 9% increase in positive engagement coincident with CHOICES
- 9% decrease in negative or non-engagement
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