AIM HIGHER –
Sara first received an FC2S scholarship in 2007, when she was working on her associate degree. This month, age 30, she finally accepted her diploma from Edison Community College in Florida, with a cumulative 3.34 GPA. Read More
AIM HIGHER –
Joel has a terrific job. He teaches high school social studies in Hawaii, and every year he takes a group of students on a spring break tour. Read More
AIM HIGHER –
On April 27, 2014, Brittany graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Social Work from Eastern Michigan University. After spending her teenage years in foster care, this was not a given. Less than five percent of young adults who age out of foster care graduate with a bachelor’s degree . Read More
On October 21st, Maria Garin Jones, Program Manager for Aim Higher at FC2S met with a delegation of teachers from multiple Caribbean nations, including Jamaica, Grenada, and the Bahamas. The group traveled to the U.S. as part of the Youth Ambassadors Program sponsored by Bold Leaders. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Bold Leaders is dedicated to providing leadership development and training services for young people and adults all over the world. The program engages both youth and adult educators in an intensive learning experience in the urban areas of Denver and Washington, DC. Upon return to their home countries, participants engage in community-based projects designed to empower young people and educators while promoting youth leadership and community engagement.
FC2S staff provided an overview of child welfare in the U. S. and legislation passed in recent years to improve the lives of children and youth involved with the foster care system. The group engaged in discussion about the challenges facing older youth as they transition to adulthood, both in the U.S. and in the Caribbean nations represented. Members of the delegation also talked about the obstacles facing youth in their own countries and shared some of the programs they are developing to provide additional support and opportunities to the youth.
Students get into college, navigate the financial aid system, succeed in all of their classes, graduate, and expect to get a good job. Unfortunately, recently graduated students may have to take any job they can get while they pursue their dream of the “ideal” job.
Foster Care to Success alumna Francesca Weems knows from first-hand experience the challenges and rewards of the job search. She recently got a full-time position as a Sports Anchor/Reporter at Mississippi News Now (WLBT) in Jackson. This job is the result of a lengthy process that started during her sophomore year at the University of California-Berkeley. “My track and field coach got me in touch with people at ESPN. They were hosting a game and I helped out for that game. That opened up a bunch of doors! Half the battle in any business is who you know, not necessarily what you know. Going to school and getting good grades is very important, but it’s also about building relationships with the people around you. That’s eventually how you will get your job and that’s what I’ve learned completely first hand.”
After finishing her BA in Mass Communication, Francesca continued onto grad school and got a Master’s in education with the help of Foster Care to Success. She describes her reasons for getting this degree, “I knew that I wanted to be on air and I knew in reality that it was a very competitive field. I needed a back-up plan. Education in my opinion was perfect. It would still allow me to communicate with people and I thought I would teach mass communication in some format, should television not work out.”
Like all job seekers, Francesca faced her challenging periods. “There were definitely some hard times, because when I finished and got my Master’s, I was having problems finding education jobs and jobs on air. They weren’t hiring teachers. I sent out my reel to a bunch of people. Hundreds of stations and they also weren’t hiring. For about five months, I didn’t have a job. I got a little discouraged then slowly stuff started to pick up. I got a job at Comcast SportsNet.” Francesca’s path in television came through.
Tips from Francesca’s Job Search
Chelsea Miles, recent college graduate and Aim Higher Fellow, was selected as the October employee of the month at Tooele Junior High where she teaches 7th grade language arts in Tooele, Utah. The award she received is called the “Passing of the Flame” (because the trophy looks like a flame).
She was nominated by a co-worker because of her flair for creativity, her ability to keep track of the standards that teachers are required to cover, and because her kindness and patience with all the students with whom she works.
Chelsea is so excited about this award. She has only been teaching for a few short months and finds herself second guessing her choices and questioning her approaches with students. By receiving this award, it has helped her gain some perspective and realize that she is making a positive difference – no matter how small – in the lives of the middle school students that she teaches on a daily basis.
Says Chelsea, “On days when I feel like everything has gone terribly, I’ll have a student come up and tell me that I’m their favorite teacher or I’ll have a breakthrough with a student that has been struggling. It’s surprising how much power and influence I have with them, and every day, I try to make sure I’m using it in a positive way.”
While she feels honored to have received this award, it’s not the faculty-wide recognition that keeps her motivated. She’s most excited to see her students actually learn what she’s teaching and then use it to make their lives better. This is what makes her job worth it!
Not many people relish diving into financial issues and educating themselves on the finer details of interest rates, detailed approaches to saving, or the fees attached to a credit card. However, this lack of knowledge can easily lead to a series of progressively difficult events. In “Financial Literacy, Beyond the Classroom,” New York Times writer Richard Thaler describes the importance of “just-in-time education.” A high school student sitting through a lecture on finance is not really going to understand the significance of the imparted wisdom. However, they will need the information just in the nick of time before their bank account gets overdrawn or something else harmful occurs. One approach for remedying this is to develop some simple rules that can easily lodge in the mind. Here are some we believe in here at Foster Care to Success:
Simple Financial Rules
Financial literacy increases confidence and makes anyone ready to take on the world.
You are the difference – the difference between being an overwhelmed, underprepared student starting college or a job training program and a successful student graduating with a plan.
What makes the difference? Foster Care to Success (FC2S), its donors and volunteers are the dinner table conversation where parents relay important information to their children that youth in foster care miss. We are the phone call to a favorite high school teacher that a student in college makes asking for advice on how to pass a class. We are the doting aunt who sends the care package to her niece in school. We are the red scarf wrapped around a student’s neck like hug keeping her warm on a chilly evening.
Foster Care to Success is NOT just an organization that distributes educational funding to youth who experienced foster care now working their way through vocational training or college. We are so much more. And, we couldn’t do it without our extended family of volunteers who knit scarves and mentor and coach students, our ETV program partners, and the generous organizations and individuals who donate to us. Together, we are the family, the support system that students who experienced foster care need to transform from that overwhelmed student in danger of leaving school to the proud graduate with a professional certification or a degree and the world at their feet.
Can you help us make the difference in the lives of students who’ve experienced foster care? Can you donate money to the scholarship program? Can your employer give products for care packages? Can you knit a red scarf? Can you be a mentor? We hope you join us and get to know these amazing students.
Today we have a guest blog post by Maria Archuleta of the Open Society Foundations.
NEW YORK — The most comprehensive, qualitative report of academic success predictors among black and Latino high school students in the U.S. was released today by the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. The study, “Succeeding in the City: A Report from the New York City Black and Latino Male High School Achievement Study,” was led by Dr. Shaun Harper, director of the university’s Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education.
The Open Society Foundations Campaign for Black Male Achievement funded the report.
“I knew more could be learned about the success of young men of color in urban high schools,” said Harper. “I wanted to learn from young men who had been confronted with the same cultural and socioeconomic factors as their lower performing peers, yet managed to succeed in school. Specifically, I wanted to know how they developed college aspirations, became college-ready, and navigated their ways to higher education.”
The study includes over 400 face-to-face student interviews from the 40 New York City high schools participating in the Expanded Success Initiative (ESI), which is designed to increase college and career readiness among the city’s black and Latino males. ESI schools are a part of New York City’s Young Men’s Initiative (YMI)—the nation’s most comprehensive effort to tackle the broad disparities slowing the advancement of Black and Latino young men.
The research team attributed levels of success to several factors including:
Participants included Black and Latino male juniors and seniors who maintained a 3.0 average, were engaged in multiple school activities, planned to enroll in college, and had taken a sequence of course work that would qualify them for pursuit of a college education.
The study also included 90 Black and Latino male undergraduate students who were enrolled at 44 colleges and universities. In the data collected from the college participants, Harper found:
The report features recommendations for student success aimed at various stakeholders—parents and families, urban high school teachers, high school guidance counselors, principals and other high school leaders, and postsecondary professionals and leaders.
“This new report reflects the vision, values, and fortitude of students who were able to change the odds of their educational trajectories,” said Shawn Dove, manager of Open Society’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement. “What we learn from these young men should be promoted and reinforced in not only school districts across America, but in the collective consciousness of teachers, administrators, policymakers, researchers, parents, and others who care about the educational success of our nation’s black and Latino young men.”
The Open Society Foundations supports YMI in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and the City of New York.
The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. Working with local communities in more than 100 countries, the Open Society Foundations support justice and human rights, freedom of expression, and access to public health and education.
Danielle Gletow
Everyone wishes for something. Danielle Gletow’s organization One Simple Wish works to fulfill the wishes of foster children, at-risk youth and vulnerable families around the country. Founded in 2008, One Simple Wish helps others become heroes as well, by letting them make children’s dreams come true. One Simple Wish donors contribute everything from tickets to sporting events, iPods, prom dresses and even money for braces. Danielle and her husband are the parents of daughters Lily, Mia and Duncan the dog.
Danielle was gracious enough to have a conversation with us about her experience as a foster parent, the state of foster care today, and other important topics.
What gave you the idea for One Simple Wish?
After fostering for a year, my husband and I felt like we wanted/needed to do more to make life a little brighter for these children that were entering such a tough and confusing system. We saw so much unique need and a lack of knowledge among the general public about how to help kids. We created One Simple Wish as a way to make it easier for people to get involved with supporting kids in “the system” without having to become part of the system themselves.
What are the most important things people should know before they become foster parents?
Be prepared! One thing that foster parenting offers that traditional parenting does not is good training classes. Take them. You will network with people who could become good support systems down the line. Be flexible and ready for changes. Caseworkers miss meetings, reschedule appointments and don’t always have all the answers you want when you want them. You have to be able to roll with the punches as a foster parent. Be loving. The most important thing you can do is unconditionally love the children you are caring for. They need to feel safe, and this is your chance to show them the best side of people.
What advice do you have for new foster parents?
My advice is hang in there and remember why you are doing this. Navigating the foster care system can be overwhelming and frustrating for the kids and the parents. But hang in there. Love the kids. Support them. Make sure they know you are there for them, now and always.
How has being a foster parent changed your life?
In every way possible! Becoming a foster parent helped me find my passion in life, which is caring for, nurturing and supporting kids. I think there is nothing more beautiful than the innocence and potential of every child. With a lot of love and support, I believe every kid can reach greatness.
What are the biggest issues you see in the foster care world right now?
I think we need a broader pool of foster parents who do not need or care about the money. I think it’s nice to add an incentive but really, we need more foster parents who want to do it and who can do it solely out of love and kindness. There are a lot of people in the world that fit that profile. We need more people to be part of this village so they can offer ideas, solutions and thoughts about how to improve the system.
How have you seen your organization impact foster youth? Do you have any favorite stories about children whose wishes were granted?
Every wish granted is my favorite story! I love the uniqueness of each wish so I don’t really have any favorites. I think it’s great that our program doesn’t assume a need. We ask the kids what they want and we deliver. It’s very personal. It’s not charity; it’s support. To date we’ve reached over 25,000 kids and we now partner with 500 agencies in 42 states.
On your website, you mention your bulldog, Duncan. What has Duncan taught you that you’ve been able to use in your interactions with people?
I am obsessed with my dog. Duncan taught me that sometimes people just need you to be quiet and still and be there. I talk a lot and try to fix things. But when I’m sick or stressed, my dog senses it and just sits beside me. His presence calms me, and I know he’s trying to just be there. I think we can all learn a lot from that. We don’t always need to fix things. We can just show someone that we’re there.
One Simple Wish – a simple idea, simple to fulfill, which has brought joy to thousands of children and youth all across the country. That’s why we salute Danielle Gletow, our October Foster Care Hero.
