CHOICES Champion

CHOICES FIELD REPORT

As Floods Hit Tennessee, CHOICES Floods Tennessee Classrooms

As floods swamped the Nashville area in April, a deeper force was already at work in the state…the rising tide of CHOICES presenters in classrooms throughout the city. Debbie Grant, the CHOICES Program Manager for the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), reports that while the floods certainly slowed their CHOICES efforts, they were still able to deliver three workshops during high tide, keeping their students’ spirits even higher.

But the CHOICES surge in Tennessee didn’t start there. It began back in May 2009 when Angie Griffin, Workforce Readiness Chair for the Clarksville, TN area chapter, attended a webinar led by Bing Spitler, Workforce Readiness Chair for a SHRM chapter in Cincinnati, OH, and Leo Muller, Executive Director of CHOICES.

Angie became intrigued with CHOICES for two reasons: she remembered what it was like to be a teen, and in her “day job” as a Career Counselor for Goodwill Industries she saw firsthand how the poor choices people make at an early age adversely impact them and others…including the workforce she is trying to build in her community.

So Angie got her local SHRM organization to partner with the SHRM Student Chapter at Austin Peay State University, and before she knew it, graduate students from the Psychology Department and business professionals were in the classroom talking to students about making positive choices. As a result, APSU plans to incorporate CHOICES into their required curriculum for the College of Professional Programs and Social Sciences.

Angie’s SHRM Chapter decided that their pilot CHOICES program would target 325 at-risk youth at the junior high level. Angie’s manager at Goodwill, Betty Johnson, who was also a SHRM member, attended one of the original workshops in Clarksville, and was so impressed with the program…and the connection it created with community leaders…that she convinced her chair to fund CHOICES for a pilot in Metro Davidson County.

Next thing you know, Goodwill staff and local SHRM chapter members were presenting CHOICES in Metro Davidson County Schools. And because of the momentum they built, the local Predators Foundation awarded them additional funds for CHOICES to be delivered to even more students this fall in Davidson County.

But the high water mark for CHOICES in Tennessee still has not been seen. Word of the success experienced to date has now reached the state level. That’s right…the Tennessee State Board of Education presented a packet of information about CHOICES to the Governor’s Office in April, suggesting it be incorporated into his “Race to the Top” program. Goodwill Industries has offered to be the conduit for the training for 44 counties within the state.

Angie and Debbie credit Tiffany Markey at CHOICES for helping her set the stage for CHOICES in Tennessee. “Tiffany has been a blessing to us,” Angie said, “guiding us every step of the way to ensure the proper delivery and effectiveness of the program.” Angie insisted we include this compliment…so what could we do? Well, we can add our own kudos to Angie, Betty and Debbie for opening the floodgates for teens in Tennessee…thank you for your great service to Teennesee (and that’s not a typo!).

CHOICES MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE MONTH

It’s Time to Record and Compile Your CHOICES Student and Staff Surveys

Since many of you have finished or nearly finished your CHOICES presentations for the current academic year, now is the time to record and compile your student and staff surveys. You should have received a copy of the Survey Compilation Template (in spreadsheet format) and a set of Instructions from your CHOICES representative (let us know if you need it sent again).

Please make a copy of the template (to preserve a set for next year), enter this year’s data by school per the instructions, and you will have both student and staff approval ratings by school and for your complete program site. We also have a survey available that your Presenters can complete at the end of the school year, which can also be entered into the same template.

You can use this information to provide feedback to your schools, community (great for press releases!) organization and funders as applicable. Please also send your completed template to us so we can compile results on a national level. If you have any questions about this process, please contact us at info@choices.org.