CHOICES Champion

CHOICES NEWS:

CHOICES Facebook CAUSE Open to All: Save Teens From Dropping Out

In addition to the Facebook GROUP we announced in our last issue, we are now launching the Facebook CAUSE: “Save Teens From Dropping Out,” which is open to anyone that wants to join. This CAUSE has gone viral in just the last two weeks, more than quadrupling in just ten days to nearly 70 members from all over.

So go to Facebook, click on the CAUSES link at the bottom of your home page, search for the CAUSE “Save Teens From Dropping Out” and join us. Then invite your co-workers, friends, family members and anyone else who cares about the future of our teens and this world to join us. After all, today’s teens will be running our world tomorrow…we need to give them the best possible opportunity for their future success…and ours! If you're still not convinced, just read the sobering and compelling article below.

NOTE for Program Managers regarding the Facebook GROUP “Friends of CHOICES” (just for CHOICES Presenters and Program Managers): Please remind all of your Presenters that they are invited to join this community, and please join yourself if you haven’t already!

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Preparation by Eighth Grade Critical to College/Career Readiness

Most U.S. Eighth-Graders Aren't On Track, Will Face Uphill Battle to Catch Up

Iowa City, IA—Students who aren't on track for college and career readiness by eighth grade are unlikely to attain that level of readiness by high school graduation, according to "The Forgotten Middle," a new research report by ACT, Inc. The findings suggest the level of academic achievement that students attain by eighth grade has a bigger impact on whether they are ready for college and career by the time they graduate than any single factor examined, including courses taken, grades earned in high school and demographic characteristics such as gender, race, and household income.

"Eighth grade is a critical defining point for students in the college and career planning process," said Cynthia B. Schmeiser, president and chief operating officer of ACT's Education Division. "If students are not on target for college and career readiness by the time they reach this point, the impact may be nearly irreversible."

To read the rest of this article, go to:
http://www.act.org/news/releases/2008/12-10-08.html

CHOICES MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE MONTH

Plan Now for Next Year’s CHOICES Delivery

Now is the time of year to begin contacting schools about CHOICES program delivery for the next academic year. Talk to your school contacts about preferred delivery dates for the fall, any increase in the number of classes, and any issues to resolve from this year’s experience. This is also a great time to reach out to new schools about bringing CHOICES to their students. Use your resources from existing schools - contacts, stats and success stories – to let new schools know what they have been missing. Ask teachers and/or administrators from your current schools to provide letters of recommendation, or to even contact/meet with their counterparts in new schools – there’s nothing like peer-to-peer advocacy to open those doors.

CHOICES FIELD REPORT

CHOICES Presenter Breaks Foot, Survives Fire Drill, Delivers CHOICES… and Signs up for More!

A couple of weeks ago Pam Bryant, a CHOICES presenter for the Shoals Area Chamber of Commerce in Florence, Alabama, slipped and fell on the wet school bathroom floor at her host school just minutes before her CHOICES presentation was to begin. She found out later in the day that she had broken her foot!

So she got up off the floor and told herself “I can do this” and entered the classroom. However, in the middle of her presentation there was a fire drill, and they all had to walk outside, wait until everyone was accounted for and then walk back inside….including Pam on her broken foot! “This could only happen to me! Pam said. “Now I’m in an ugly black boot for six weeks!”

The real kicker on this story is that Pam shared it with her CHOICES Program Manager in an email in which she signed up for CHOICES delivery again next year! That’s right…no wet floor, broken foot, fire drill or ugly black boot will stop this woman from her mission…CHOICES must go on! Thanks from all of us at CHOICES, Pam, for your dedication and sacrifice for teens!