CHOICES Champion

CHOICES NEWS:

CHOICES Names New Chair of the Board

We are excited to announce the election of Gary Shenk as Chair of the CHOICES Education Group Board of Directors.

"Gary brings an immense amount of experience, knowledge, and passion for education to the CHOICES board. I am delighted to have him serving in such a significant position of leadership," says President Shannon Kavanaugh.

Gary Shenk is the President and CEO of Corbis Corporation, a creative resource for advertising, marketing and media professionals worldwide. Shenk oversees all of Corbis’ integrated market facing functions including sales, marketing, image licensing and Rights Services. Prior to his promotion to the role of President, Shenk was Senior Vice President of Images. Shenk joined Corbis in 2003 to lead the company’s newly established Rights Services unit. Prior to joining Corbis, Shenk was a founder and general manager of FlixMix, a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Studios. Shenk began his relationship with Universal while he was a leader in the media and entertainment practice of The Boston Consulting Group. Shenk is a graduate of Harvard College and the Wharton Business School. Prior to his graduate studies, he lived and worked in Moscow.

CHOICES FIELD REPORT

As Director of the Tech Prep Consortium, Debbie Hubbard had overseen CHOICES for 11 Aiken County (SC) Middle Schools from 2003-2007. But in 2007 Debbie faced a funding dilemma...their Tech Prep funds covering CHOICES dried up, and she feared they would face the same fate as numerous Tech Prep Consortia in similar situations that were unable to continue CHOICES. But Debbie, who had been a classroom teacher for 25 years, decided there was no way she was going to let that happen to her students!

Since many of the major businesses in Aiken County had provided presenters for CHOICES delivery, and one - Savannah River Site Education Outreach - had even assisted with training and copying training notebooks, Debbie mustered up her courage and asked them to each sponsor a school. She soon realized what she hoped (and believed) to be true - business and industry indeed wanted to be a part of education, and they were willing to give their time, talent, and treasure to ensure the best education possible for their students.

Well, thanks to Debbie's hard work and the generosity of these local businesses, the following schools are now being sponsored for CHOICES:

• North Augusta Middle School sponsored by Kimberly Clark
• Langley, Bath, Clearwater sponsored by Bridgestone Firestone
• Leavelle McCampbell sponsored by the University of South
  Carolina, Aiken
• A.L. Corbett Middle and Ridge Spring Monetta Middle School by
  Ansaldo STS USA, Inc.

In addition, the following schools are slated to be sponsored by businesses next year:

• Kennedy Middle School sponsored by Atlantic Broadband
• Schofield Middle School sponsored by Shaw Industries
• Jackson and New Ellenton Middle Schools sponsored by Nuclear
  Solutions Savannah River Site

This would mean that 9 of Aiken County's 11 middle schools will have a business sponsor for CHOICES...which also means that almost 2,000 students will continue to receive the CHOICES message that Self Discipline is the Key to Success and that they can be what they choose to become. Way to go, Debbie!

Debbie Hubbard is a Career & Technology Education Coordinator for the Aiken County School District in Aiken, SC.

CHOICES MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE MONTH

Plan Your End of Year CHOICES Champion Session

Since many of you have finished or nearly finished your CHOICES presentations for the current academic year, now is the time to plan your end of school year event for your Presenters , their managers and school staff. We call it the CHOICES Champion Session.

When your Presenters return from their classroom presentations, you will be amazed at the excitement and enthusiasm they bring back with them. They’ll return to work wanting to share their experiences with co-workers and other Presenters. Even after “challenging” presentations, tenacious Presenters want to go back and make it better next time. Many Presenters will say that they are getting even more from the experience than the students.

This is an opportunity to be seized as your program winds up for the year. Schedule and invite all Presenters, and ideally their managers, to attend a CHOICES Champion Session to share their experiences. Allow about 45 minutes for Presenters to share their experiences. Then, use another 45 minutes to have refreshments, while a participating teacher, counselor, or principal shares about the impact of CHOICES on their students and thanks the Presenters for their time and commitment.