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Educate Tomorrow Launches New Local and Statewide Programs
Educate Tomorrow Launches New Local and Statewide Programs led by
Veteran Employees Jasmine Moore and Dr. Steve J. Rios
January 22, 2024. Miami: Jasmine Moore and Steve J. Rios, two nationally-known higher education student services professionals, have new roles at Educate Tomorrow. Their new positions are associated with new programs recently launched by the 21-year-old non-profit organization, which operates throughout Florida and in Michigan. Mrs. Moore has been promoted from associate to senior Director of the Positive Pathways Program, a position previously held by Dr. Rios. Dr. Rios has been promoted to head of foster care and homeless education services, a newly-created position.
In her new role, Mrs. Moore will lead the Positive Pathways Program, a network of more than 350 professionals throughout Florida that work to ensure academic success among former foster youth and students experiencing housing security. Educate Tomorrow has administered Positive Pathways, since 2016 it was created by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) in 2016. Jasmine received a B.S. in Sociology from Radford University and a M.S.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Old Dominion University. Prior to joining Educate Tomorrow, Jasmine established and managed the Educate Tomorrow at FAU program from 2017 to 2020. In 2019, Jasmine’s work at FAU was recognized when she received the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Outstanding Advisor Award.
Pathways to Career and Technical Education Success Program
Mrs. Moore’s new responsibilities also include working with Dr. Rios to launch and establish a new Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) program called Pathways to Career and Technical Education (CTE) Success. Pathways to CTE Success is funded by the Florida Department of Education’s Division of Career and Adult Education with funding from the United States Department of Education Carl D. Perkins grant. Perkins grants aim to assist school districts and public two-year colleges improve secondary and postsecondary-level career and technical education programs.
The goal of the Pathways to CTE Success Program is to increase awareness and completion of certification and postsecondary workforce credentials by students using the homeless tuition and fee exemption and the DCF tuition and fee exemption. Mrs. Moore and Dr. Rios have already begun to develop a statewide network of informed professionals, like Positive Pathways, to support students using the exemptions in school district career and technical education programs. Unless the contract is extended or additional funds are secured, the program is slated to end on June 30, 2024.
In his new position, Dr. Rios will oversee Positive Pathways and Pathways to CTE Success, working with Mrs. Moore and William Greene, the newly-hired marketing coordinator. Mr. Greene is a 2021 graduate of Florida International University’s Communications, Public Relations and Advertising Program.
Miami-Dade County Youth Housing Helpline
Dr. Rios also will run the recently-launched Miami-Dade County Youth Housing Helpline for the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. Through this program, one of the few of its kind in the nation, homeless or unaccompanied youth ages 14-24 now have access directly to Educate Tomorrow, which will provide immediate support to enable young adults to secure safe shelter and other services through case management. Since the helpline launched on January 2 of this month, Dr. Rios, Program Director Devin Floyd and other Educate Tomorrow staff have already served more than 20 callers, providing shelter, referrals and other services for those in need through Miami-Dade County’s coordinated entry system.
Educate Tomorrow at Miami-Dade College
Working with CEO Brett McNaught and other key organization leaders, Dr. Rios also will lead research into Educate Tomorrow’s impact on youth and young adults in foster care throughout its various programs. Lastly, he will help relaunch the Educate Tomorrow at Miami-Dade College college coach and educational case management program. The program, which first began in 2003 with an Educate Tomorrow challenge grant and funding from various Miami-Dade funders, is one of the largest state college-based programs in the United States. During the past seven years, 480 students have earned associate of arts and bachelor’s degrees using the DCF and homeless student tuition and fee exemptions. In spring of 2024, 185 students enrolled using the DCF exemption and 135 using the homeless exemption.
Dr. Rios holds a doctorate in Adult Education and Human Resource Development from Florida International University and a master's degree in Public Administration from Florida Atlantic University. He has held leadership positions at all levels of education, from early learning to university undergraduate and graduate schools.
“We look forward to these exciting new and renewed educational initiatives, Mr. McNaught said. “We are confident that Steve and Jasmine will continue to provide the high- impact leadership as we embark on new local and statewide initiatives that will have a direct impact on the lives of thousands of students.”
Educate Tomorrow, established in 2003, has a variety of educational programs that serve students from elementary through graduate school. The organization is well-known for its extensive use of educational case management and wraparound services to support young adults as they strive to obtain their post secondary credentials.
For more information about these programs, email us at Pathways@EducateTomorrow.org
Thank you for celebrating our 18th Anniversary Celebration
THANK YOU
Miami Dade College to Receive 2021 Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award for Campus Internationalization
Miami, March 16, 2021 – Miami Dade College (MDC) is among only three exemplary institutions selected nationwide to receive a 2021 Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award for Campus Internationalization. Named after the late Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, the NAFSA Simon Awards recognize outstanding innovation and accomplishment in campus internationalization in two categories.
MDC is set to receive the “Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award,” which recognizes a specific program or initiative that contributes to internationalization on campus. The program being recognized is MDC’s Educate Tomorrow Abroad, launched in 2017. Through a partnership with the nonprofit Educate Tomorrow, the program is the first of its kind in the country to facilitate study abroad opportunities for students who are homeless or in the foster care system. Since the program’s inception, MDC has expanded its partnership with many public and private institutions and organizations that have contributed to the expansion of the program.
Over the years, MDC has demonstrated its commitment to international education and creating unique opportunities for students. It has consistently ranked #1 among community colleges in the State of Florida and #7 in the country in the number of students sent abroad each year.
A strong advocate for international education and cross-cultural learning, the late Senator Paul Simon is also the namesake of the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act. Introduced in nearly every Congress since 2006 with bipartisan support, the Simon bill aims to incentivize U.S. higher education institutions through competitive grants to increase the number and diversity of students who complete a study abroad experience prior to graduation and make study abroad an integral part of higher education.
Institutions selected for the Simon Awards will be featured in NAFSA’s report, Internationalizing the Campus: Profiles of Success at Colleges and Universities, to be published this fall, and honored during International Education Week in November. To learn more about NAFSA’s Senator Paul Simon Awards for Campus Internationalization, visit www.nafsa.org/SimonAward.
About NAFSA
With more than 10,000 members, NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world’s largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education. Visit us at www.nafsa.org/press. To learn more about our advocacy efforts on behalf of international education, visit www.ConnectingOurWorld.org and @ConnectOurWorld on Twitter. Resources to guide our members on these issues can be found at www.nafsa.org/reginfo.
About Miami Dade College
Miami Dade College is the most diverse institution in the nation. There are 167 nations and 63 languages represented in its student body. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer more than 300 distinct degree pathways including associate and baccalaureate degrees, career certificates and apprenticeships. Baccalaureate degree offerings include biological sciences, engineering, data analytics, information systems technology, education, public safety, supervision and management, nursing, physician assistant studies, film and others. MDC is the recipient of many top national awards including the Aspen Prize. As Democracy’s College, MDC changes lives through accessible, high quality-teaching and learning experiences. It is the home of the Miami Culinary Institute, the Miami Animation & Gaming International Complex, the Miami Fashion Institute, the Eig-Watson School of Aviation, The Idea Center, the Cybersecurity Center of the Americas, the Cloud Computing Center, the Center for Learning, Innovation and Simulation, the School for Advanced Studies, and the New World School of the Arts, to name a few of its most innovative programs. MDC has been named among the nation’s “Great Colleges to Work For” since the program’s inception. The College embraces its responsibility to serve as an economic, cultural, and civic leader for the advancement of our diverse global community. Its alumni and employees contribute more than $3 billion annually to the local economy, and MDC graduates occupy top leadership positions in every major industry. MDC is renowned for its rich cultural programming. It is the home of the Miami Book Fair, Miami Film Festival, the National Historic Landmark Miami Freedom Tower, the Tower Theater, Dyer Building, Koubek Center Mansion and Gardens, Live Arts Miami at MDC, the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives, the Museum of Art and Design, a sculpture park and a large campus art gallery and theater system. MDC has admitted more than 2,000,000 students and counting, since it opened its doors in 1960. More than 100,000 students are currently enrolled. For more information, visit www.mdc.edu.
Educate Tomorrow's Overview
I am excited to share with you our Educate Tomorrow organizational overview. This is a place where you can learn more about the many important aspects of our work. We will update this from time to time so you will be confident you have come to the right place. Since 2003 Educate Tomorrow has been dedicated to assisting children and young adults in reaching their goals. We believe that when people have the capacity to live a fuller life they become stronger members of our community. We know talent is equally distributed but opportunity is not, so there is work to do to connect people to opportunities to better their lives. Our team shares well established values. We are dedicated to creating transformational opportunities for all who are a part of Educate Tomorrow. We can grow only if we are connected to others. |
We know that the systems that support our youth and families are not always equitable or efficient and we must help them navigate those systems. We support systems change and we advance policies to make them more inclusive.
We must stay relevant, agile and resilient if we are to grow for another 18 years, and beyond. We believe in constant growth and abundance. We believe in sharing our spirit of gratitude with others. We believe in you.
In service,
Virginia and Brett
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POSITIVE PATHWAYS PROGRAM HELPS FORMER FOSTER YOUTH IN FLORIDA ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN COLLEGE AND LIFE
Read Full Article on Florida College AQccess
Having entered Florida’s foster care system at the age of 10, Dominique Rosario hopes to eventually work with young girls who grew up in similarly challenging circumstances.
“My goal is to start doing therapy or some kind of work with girls in the DJJ (Department of Juvenile Justice) system,” Rosario said. “I want to help in any way I can.”
Rosario, 22, recently earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary social sciences with a concentration in criminology and sociology from the University of South Florida, but she was far from a dedicated student throughout her time at Miami Coral Park High School.
“I could not have cared less about college. There was an Algebra II class where I had 67 absences,” said Rosario, who eventually completed the necessary coursework at night and during the summer. “It was fear of homelessness that made me care about college.”
She credits members of the Positive Pathways network, which aims to improve postsecondary outcomes and career transitions for foster care youth and alumni, for helping her get to where she is today.
“I don’t usually need money-based resources, so I come to them for advice on classes, how to get my foot in the door for job interviews or how to pick a therapist. They really help give me the confidence to do these things,” said Rosario, who is currently working as an art therapy teacher at New Life Village, where she supports families raising adopted, kinship and foster children. “Without them, I wouldn’t have the job I have now and I don’t think I would be where I am now.”
Making College Affordable for Foster Youth in Florida
Each year, approximately 1,000 youth in Florida turn 18 and age out of foster care. Many of those interested in pursuing education beyond high school are not aware of the supports the state has in place to help them.
Florida is one of 28 states that offers a tuition and fee exemption for former foster youth who meet certain eligibility requirements. The waiver is administered by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), which also provides a monthly $1,256 stipend for living expenses to students enrolled in a postsecondary or vocational school up to the age of 23 through its Postsecondary Education Services Support (PESS) program.
Florida truly is an innovator in terms of the support they’ve provided and continue to provide these young people,” said Dr. Steve J. Rios, senior director for the Positive Pathways Program. For instance, foster youth in Florida may use the DCF tuition and fee waiver until they turn 28, whereas the waiver expires sooner for students in other states.
Postsecondary Attainment Grows for Florida Foster Youth
The number of former foster youth like Rosario who have enrolled in and graduated from college is on the rise.
According to a brief released by Helios Education Foundation and Educate Tomorrow, about 1,500 students in Florida’s public colleges, universities and technical schools utilized the tuition and fee exemption for former foster youth in 2008. That figure more than tripled in the ensuing decade, swelling to 6,372 students during the 2019-2020 school year. While the number of former foster youth who graduated from those institutions more than doubled — from 135 students in 2013 to 273 students in 2018 — Positive Pathways is trying to further bolster those figures by helping more students obtain the support they need to succeed in college.
Get to Know: Positive Pathways
Positive Pathways, formerly known as Florida Reach, is a network of individuals with the goal of increasing the number of campus-based support programs, according to Rios. Florida statutes mandate that Florida College System and State University System institutions provide “campus coaching positions” for current and former foster youth. All campuses have a designated foster care liaison but the level of direct support provided at any given institution varies.
Towards the end of 2016, DCF established a contract to create and fund Positive Pathways, which supports the foster care liaisons on each campus through technical assistance, professional development, connections to funding for postsecondary students, and more.
The Positive Pathways program — which Rios estimates has about 200 professionals in its network — is administered by Educate Tomorrow, a Miami-based statewide program with a long history of helping former foster youth graduate from college and succeed in life. Positive Pathways offers professional development to those serving foster youth on college campuses and to learn from practices that are leading to student success.
“The purpose of Positive Pathways is to have a united, evidence-based response to supporting youth from foster care and making sure they have dedicated programs on college campuses,” said Brett McNaught, CEO of Educate Tomorrow. That mission also includes making students, their families, and independent living professionals aware of existing resources. “What we realized years ago is that free college tuition existed, but there was a severe lack of knowledge about it, especially in disseminating the information to students and caregivers.”
Educate Tomorrow, which has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to complement the DCF contract that funds Positive Pathways, recently partnered with Florida’s Guardian ad Litem Program to help increase awareness about the tuition and fee exemption among volunteers supporting former foster youth in Florida, who can then pass along that knowledge to students.
McNaught said the creation of Positive Pathways has greatly expanded supports for foster care youth throughout the state.
“Prior to Positive Pathways, we didn’t have all these relationships on different college campuses…we didn’t have trusted partners that we could hand our students off to,” McNaught said.
One of those trusted partners is Dr. Althea Blake, program coordinator for St. Petersburg College’s RISE program. RISE (Road to Independence, Success, and Excellence) seeks to increase the graduation rate for students using the DCF tuition and fee exemption, as well as the Homeless Fee Exemption.
Although RISE was established in mid-2020, the program is currently accepting applications for its first official student cohort in Fall 2021.
“The goal is to enhance their overall academic experience,” said Blake, who will provide one-on-one success coaching through the program. “We plan on doing that through mentorship, advocacy, and a comprehensive series of workshops.”
The workshops scheduled for February through April will take place on Microsoft Teams due to COVID-19.
Supporting students during a pandemic
McNaught said students have been even more reliant on the services provided through Positive Pathways and Educate Tomorrow during the pandemic.
“We would’ve assumed programs like this might take a backseat, but it’s actually been the opposite response,” he said. “There’s been a recognition that there needs to be more dedication to vulnerable student populations that are suffering at this time.”
Positive Pathways and Educate Tomorrow partnered with AOK Scholars to survey former foster youth in college in September 2020, then again in February 2021. The percentage of students who said that their schooling is an urgent or high priority was 96% and 97%, respectively, while the proportion of students who said staying healthy physically or mentally is an urgent or high priority increased from 83% to 93%.
Rios and McNaught said Positive Pathways and Educate Tomorrow have already developed several supports for students during the pandemic, including virtual information and support calls that take place more than once a week to help keep students engaged, and a tutoring service to provide academic support.
“Many students were more willing to move to a virtual platform because they’d been quarantining and feeling isolated,” McNaught said. “They especially gravitate to the group sessions and even linger after the session is over to share their feelings and be a part of something.”
Educate Tomorrow was awarded $20,000 from this year's Project Innovation grant
One of this year’s winners is Educate Tomorrow, who was awarded a $20,000 grant. NBC 6 anchor, Sheli Muñiz, spoke to Brett McNaught, CEO of Educate Tomorrow.
Earlier this year, NBC 6 and Telemundo 51 worked with Project Innovation to help local non-profits creating positive change here in South Florida by awarding grants.
Grants were awarded to programs that addressed community issues in innovative ways.
Go to NBC Channel 6 website.
How colleges are trying to address homelessness among students
Read Full Article on MSN
When Sara heard she was accepted to Florida Atlantic University in 2017, she was happy and excited, like so many high school seniors receiving acceptance letters. She wasn’t a bad student by any means, but wasn’t the valedictorian, either, so she was grateful for the opportunity. She planned to study criminal justice, and was thrilled about moving into the dorms. But unlike many of her fellow students, Sara wasn’t sure how any of her educational expenses—especially housing—would be covered, because she had to pay for it all herself.
Sara (who asked only her first name be used for this article to protect her privacy) was in foster care until she was 16, when she was placed with a family in Pembroke Pines, Florida. When she applied for college, her foster parents said that if she didn’t continue to live at home, they wouldn’t support her financially. Sara made the choice to go to FAU, which was an hour away, and since she didn’t want to commute, she decided to be fully independent and live on her own.
Sara, now 21, is part of a growing population of students at community colleges and four-year universities facing housing insecurity and homelessness, which puts them at great risk of failing to graduate. For students facing housing insecurity and homelessness today, the challenges go beyond being scrappy and surviving on the cheap, says Joe Murray, an assistant dean at FAU. Today’s students struggle with expenses and levels of precariousness that go far beyond what students in previous generations faced, and that’s especially true when it comes to housing.
“Just think about something as simple as move-in day,” he says. “All these parents come with U-Hauls full of stuff for their kid’s dorm rooms, and then you have a foster youth with a garbage bag of clothes, the only thing they may own.”
Much of the stereotypical college experience centers around living spaces, such as a student’s first dorm room or first rental apartment shared with friends. But colleges are Increasingly admitting more and more students like Sara who don’t have the resources to pay for housing. That’s led to more programs like FAU’s Educate Tomorrow, which has helped her and other students who are at high risk of being sidetracked from their education by housing issues.
Murray says that of the school’s 30,000-plus students, roughly 100 to 150 are foster children or were previously homeless, and 77 were enrolled in Educate Tomorrow last year. It’s indicative of how the homeless problem, which worsened during the recession, has only been exacerbated by a lack of housing supply, which is forcing rents up and pushing renters out of their homes.
FAU’s program helps students like Sara navigate everything from applying for loans to providing a $500 stipend to decorate their dorm rooms. Since launching in 2014, the program has helped raise the graduation rate of this segment of the student population to 46 percent, compared to the national average of roughly 4 percent. Murray says he won’t rest until that rate is 100 percent.
“They have no other safety net,” he says. “If they’re not graduating from college, they’re back on the streets and the narratives aren’t good. They don’t have parents to move back in with.”
Sara found the program particularly useful when figuring out her own housing situation.
“The biggest challenge was just figuring out how to navigate student life in general,” she says. “All the paperwork that comes with financial aid and applications, it can be scary if you don’t have someone to guide you.”
That guidance enabled Sara to become self-sufficient, something that proves difficult for many students in her scenario, who often face uncertainty and housing insecurity. Through Educate Tomorrow, she was able to navigate financial aid applications with a counselor and land a job at the student union. That gig, along with student aid and loans, helps her pay for her education and room and board.
“The guidance is there,” she says. “Fall semester freshman year, I didn’t know what I was going to do, and didn’t do my best in class, and that’s when I leaned on them the most for support.”
Homelessness in higher education
At universities and community colleges across the country—places whose mission is to provide opportunity and upward mobility—many students face the specter of poverty and not having a place to sleep. Roughly 60 percent of community college students, and 48 percent of four-year college students, face housing insecurity (defined as an inability to pay rent or utilities, or the need to move frequently), according to research from the Hope Center at Temple University. The same survey also found 18 percent of community college students, and 14 percent of four-year college students, have faced homelessness. That precariousness is on full display now, as a number of schools have told students to leave campus due to coronavirus fears and finish the rest of the school year online; many who can’t get home to their parents, or don’t have parents to go home to, are scrambling to figure out if they can find and afford housing.
“It’s really a fairly large-scale problem, and I always worry that people don’t appreciate how many students we’re talking about,” says Howard Bell, senior vice president of Starfish, a non-profit that works with schools to help assist students facing these challenges. “Higher education comes with its challenges, and that’s fine. But we’re dealing with the fact that, systemically, we’re not helping these students at all.”
Bell, along with other school administrators and advocates, identify many contributing factors in addition to the rising cost of education. When students become 18, they lose many social supports, like free school lunch, and may then struggle to provide for themselves. Federal educational aid is geared towards covering tuition, not housing, food, and transportation, all necessary expenses for full-time students. And then there’s the changing student population. More Americans are attending college, including those with lower incomes and those who are older and looking to switch careers (more than a third of the nation’s population have completed four years of college or more). More than one in five undergraduate students are parents. Community college students, who are often commuters and don’t have the option of on-campus dormitories, are particularly affected by rising housing costs, especially in urban areas. The existing school aid and financing system, geared towards 18-year-old high school graduates with middle-class backgrounds and family support, seems increasingly antiquated and ineffective in light of these shifts.
Dreams for Change, a non-profit in San Diego, California, operates a parking program that creates a safe place for local students and other homeless people to sleep in their cars at night. CEO Teresa Smith says that it’s become truly challenging to help the changing community college population in particular. “They can’t ever catch a break,” she says. “In the days of old, college kids could get by with ramen and pasta, and shove five people into one apartment. Today, there’s no places to do that. That means a lot of people get pushed out.”
“When we started, I thought this was a recession-based issue and that it would get better as the economy recovered,” she says. “I’m seeing the complete opposite.”
The parking lot Dreams for Change operates for homeless San Diegans includes amenities and services meant to make the prospect of crashing in your car overnight a little more bearable. Those who park here have access to bathrooms with running water, available food, refrigerators, a grill to cook, a little office shack to do work, and case managers for supportive services. Smith says of the 70 or so vehicles that park here on a busy night, probably five of them are students at nearby universities. Nearly three-quarters of people who use the lot have a source of income.
The fact that students need to utilize the lot is indicative of the challenges they, and schools, face getting to graduation while navigating financial hardships. Smith says many of them feel embarrassment, shame, and isolation around their circumstances.
Colleges and legislators are beginning to address some of the financial barriers holding back many college students, creating food banks, allowing safe parking for the homeless on campus, and creating programs, like FAU’s, that target at-risk populations. But the solutions often only address the results of the housing problem, not the roots of the issue.
She points to many social safety net programs that could be altered or changed to help students. Free school breakfast and lunch, as well as SNAP benefits, are harder to access in college, and could be altered to be easier for full-time students to utilize. Increasing minimum wages would go a long way toward helping working students. “The Living Wage campaign isn’t spoken about as a tool to help college completion, but it definitely is one,” she says.
The majority of action on student poverty is focused on providing emergency food, and happening at the state level, though there is some congressional legislation aimed at campus food insecurity. California, for example, passed AB 74, a $19 million fund to create test programs across the state to support housing insecure students.
“It’s overwhelmingly about food,” she says. “There are a few exceptions, but not as much is being done to address housing. It’s just that much more expensive a problem to solve.”
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Hurricane Dorian Information
WE ARE IN THE PATH OF #HURRICANEDORIAN. STAY ALERT FOR EMERGENCY MESSAGES REGARDING EVACUATIONS, OFFICE CLOSURES AND RELEVANT INSTRUCTIONS. #EDUCATETOMORROWSTUDENTS PLEASE CONTACT OUR OFFICE AS SOON AS YOU CAN IF YOU NEED ANY HELP!
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Talks that Matter - Meet Brett McNaught, CEO of Educate Tomorrow
PLUS 305 Interview
1.) What is your background in CSR/Social Impact/Sustainability, if any?
I grew up in a small town in the Midwest, where I had a number of protective factors to lead to a successful life. I had access to good schools, a good family, my Dad’s job gave us great health benefits, there was affordable housing, and a strong community overall. After graduating from the University of Arizona with a bachelors in Communication, I joined the Peace Corps.
Promoting Degree Attainment Among Former Foster Youth: An Exploration of Florida's Policies, Programs, and Practices to Improve Postsecondary Education for Foster Youth
Helios Education Foundation is dedicated to enriching the lives of individuals in Arizona and Florida by creating opportunities for success in postsecondary education. Helios supports initiatives that address the multitude of challenges students face across the education continuum.
Educate Tomorrow, an organization committed to providing educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth, exemplifies the mission and values of Helios. Recently, Helios and Educate Tomorrow began a partnership to explore data related to the postsecondary opportunities available to Florida students preparing to “age out” of the foster care system. Together we wanted to understand the programs and support available to these students. Additionally, we wanted to identify any trends or impacts that these policies and practices may have upon postsecondary persistence and completion.
Visit Helios Education Foundation Web Site >>
From Instability at Home to Study Overseas
In March 2017, Carol Reyes, global education director at Miami Dade College, organized what she called a “summit” to inform students on the benefits of studying abroad.
“We wanted to explain the importance of how it would enhance their education, the skills they would learn and so forth,” she recalled.
The afternoon of the event, she met a student in the halls and invited her. “I told her, ‘We have free dinner.’ Students love free food,” Ms. Reyes said.
The student agreed to attend, and expressed interest afterward in joining one of the classes going abroad that summer. At the end of the conversation, she told Ms. Reyes, “Oh by the way, I’m homeless, is that a problem?”
READ FULL ARTICLE >>
Florida Atlantic University’s Educate Tomorrow Program has been recognized nationally with a top award.
Florida Atlantic University’s Educate Tomorrow Program has been recognized nationally with a top award. Jasmine Moore, assistant director of Educate Tomorrow at FAU, received the National Academic Advising Association’s (NACADA) 2019 Outstanding Advising Award for a primary advising role.
Moore has been working within University Advising Services (UAS) for close to four years where her foundation in academic coaching began during her time with the Academic and Career Enhancement for Student Success (ACCESS) Program, also recognized as one of the top seven programs in the country for 2019 by NACADA.
Brett McNaught named Champion for Children
Miami, Florida, September 10, 2018 On Friday, September 7th, youth advocate, Brett McNaught, received the 2018 Child Welfare Champion Award from Mike Carroll, the Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families, presented at a special closing ceremony of the 2018 Child Protection Summit in Orlando.
Brett was joined onstage by his wife, Virginia Emmons McNaught, the President and Cofounder of Educate Tomorrow, and their two children, Emma and Miles. Brett was selected for this prestigious award for his tireless work on behalf of disadvantaged youth as the leader of Educate Tomorrow, a Miami-based nonprofit organization, that has grown over the past six years since he became the CEO, achieving 1,000% programmatic growth and 400% revenue growth over that time period.
He was recognized for his “steadfast advocacy” which “has made a positive impact on the lives of Florida’s youth and their families.” Under Brett’s activism, advocacy, leadership, guidance and tireless efforts, Educate Tomorrow has grown into a recognized leader in the field of foster care and homeless youth.
Children in Florida who are from foster care, adopted or homeless receive a tuition exemption at state colleges and public universities, and career and technical colleges. Brett’s work in this field, and his ability to increase graduation rates for this population, was a major contributing factor to recognizing him as a Child Welfare Champion. Focusing on academics, Educate Tomorrow’s aim is for disadvantaged young people to graduate high school and go on to achieve a postsecondary education degree or certificate, in order to achieve independence.
More than 1,200 young people are currently served by Educate Tomorrow, and, as a direct result of its programs, more than 150 students have received a college degree, vocational certification, or graduate degree. Under Brett’s leadership, the program has expanded beyond Florida into Texas, Colorado, and California as well.
Brett said, “We believe that talent is equally distributed, but opportunity isn’t. So, we connect talented people with opportunities. And we will go on doing it until our services are no longer necessary.”
Educate Tomorrow has received awards for partnership, leadership and innovation from Florida International University, Miami Dade College, Voices for Children, Switchboard Miami, The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, American Red Cross Women's Spectrum awards and College Board.
Brett is an alumnus of the National Urban Fellows Executive Leadership Program and the Miami Foundation Miami Leaders program where he attended the FIU High Potential Leader Program.
Before leading Educate Tomorrow, Brett was an officer of BuildOn where he led their International programs from 2005-2012 overseeing the construction of more than 1,000 classrooms for more than 40,000 children in rural Haiti, Nicaragua, Senegal, Mali, Malawi, Niger, Nepal and India.
Brett also served as a United States Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, West Africa from 2001-2003. He holds a M.S. Ed in Community and Social Change from the University of Miami. He is currently a board member of Hope for Haiti, and has been integral as the co-chair of the Education and Employment Committee for Helping Our Miami Youth (HOMY).
Educate Tomorrow is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides educational opportunities to disadvantzged children, creating a positive and enduring impact on their academic, personal and professional lives, helping them mature into strong, contributing members of our community.
If you would like more information about this topic, please call JR Fry at (305) 490-1938, or email jrfry@educatetomorrow.org.
The HOMY Collective
As CEO of Educate Tomorrow I am proud to be a member of the H.O.M.Y. Collective Impact. The Helping Our Miami-Dade Youth (H.O.M.Y.) Collective is a collective impact collaboration of over 60 organizations and youth leaders working to prevent and end youth homelessness in Miami-Dade County. The H.O.M.Y. Collectives mission is based on the belief that no young person should spend a single night sleeping outdoors simply because they do not have access to safe housing. I have been impressed with the leadership of this effort and am inspired by the results that have already been attained the past few years. As the Education and Employment Committee co-chair I have seen first hand how dedicated individuals from around the county are working in a concerted effort to share resources and align ourselves in an efficient and effective way to serve these young people. Please take some time to check out their new website and share this as a resource with anyone who can help. https://www.homycollective.org/
EDUCATE TOMORROW GALA-RY 2018
The party has become the envy of many non-profits in so many ways, but the crowd mix is one of its most amazing features, where the truly funky meet up with the fun-lovers, alongside powerbrokers, artists, creative types and fashionistas. Educate Tomorrow supports teens and young adults trantioning out of foster care or homelessness, assisting them in succeeding in college and providing them with a life-long community of support and opportunity. These students qualify for a tuition and fee waiver to any public college or university in Florida. Educate Tomorrow serves more than 600 students, with a goal to reach 1,000 in 2018 CLICK HERE to view our Gala Images:
Positive Pathways for Foster Youth in College
Florida is a national leader when it comes to promoting post-secondary education for young people from foster care. In 2014, the Florida legislature mandated that all public colleges and universities appoint liaisons to work with students using the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) tuition and fee waiver.
To ensure that these liaisons know about their roles, and the young people they are expected to help through college, DCF establish Positive Pathways.
DCF has set up this website to help foster care liaisons, and everyone else in Florida that is working with these young people, unite their forces to tackle the daunting challenge before us all -- a graduation rate among former foster youth that is too low.
Positive Pathways exists to support foster care liaisons and other student service and child welfare professionals. Few other states in the national have a program like Positive Pathways.
If you are a foster care liaison, you will be your institution’s or agency’s primary point of contact for these students as they begin a new chapter of their life – full of promise and possibilities, also many new unfamiliar challenges.
As you serve these students, Positive Pathways is here to provide you with training, networking opportunities, and technical support you need to be effective in this new role. Together we can help these young transitioning adults reach their educational and life goals.
Thank you for visiting our website. We look forward to working with you.
Mindfullness at Educate Tomorrow
The P3, Finding Your Power Purpose and Presence summer executive internship 2017, began with the same zeal and enthusiasm as previous years. This was particularly special because, this transformative work was being introduced to a fourth cohort of young women. Over the years observing the interns’ growth, (albeit incremental) as a result of their executive development training - is encouraging. Most of the young women recognize, embracing and applying mindfulness tools, is a lifelong practice–that works if you work it.
This summary reflects the experience of the 20 young women that have completed the 2017 Summer Executive Internship Program. The internship follows the course outline of Finding your Power, Purpose and Presence (P3). P3 is a life skills course that focuses on strategies, that enhance an appreciation for personal well-being and an awareness of the benefits of mindfulness. Instilling how learning to be still, introspective and reflective, accesses the true source to making mindful decisions while navigating life.
The course design considers the six human needs for optimal functioning. Love & compassion, gratitude & happiness, peace, a vision for your life, a sense of control and feeling supported. It also recognizes that self-control is a major characteristic that all successful people share. All the material used promotes a heightening of these experiences. Course components focus on identifying personal strengths and assets, by sharing strategies and tools that guide participants on a journey of self- discovery.
Working with our partners at Miami Dade College, Fostering Panther Pride at Florida International University and Casa Valentina, we identified a group of potential candidates. Participation guidelines support young women who are currently in college or rising freshmen, and who have aged out of the foster care system or are experiencing homelessness.
To Be Mindful…
“One topic that stood out for me was Mindfulness. This is the practice of cultivating a focused awareness on the present moment. Basically, paying attention on purpose, being present in the moment. Ms. A asked us when we are angry, where do we feel the anger. I said, in my throat and my chest. There’s this uncomfortable feeling that happens when I’m upset. This awareness of thought, feelings and bodily sensations is mindfulness. JF
“Something that stuck with me was me learning to pay attention to the moments of anger and frustration, and knowing how to spot the indicators - so I have the option of stopping or controlling the emotion is much higher and possible.” DM
Being mindful of the words we speak to ourselves and how I deserve nothing but love from myself. Creating the “I am” list gives me a visual representation of things I need to tell myself when self-doubt shows itself. DM
“Being mindful to me is paying attention to …. well paying attention. I didn’t realize that I’m not paying attention until I Payed attention. It is a practice.” TT
Giving Thanks; I am Grateful….
“Seeing my growth over this summer internship has me in shock but I’m very proud of myself for going through with this, sticking to it and to doing the work. I am very proud of the woman I am becoming, to see my transformation happen right before me. I never felt so great and all I know is that I want to continue feeling like this and doing these amazing things in my future. Now I know I can be great and now I can show up in the world and be awesome.” VG
“This summer I learned about gratitude, I am so grateful for ET and this internship experience.”
“I really liked the fact that this internship has allowed and helped me to understand things more, understand me more. It has enabled me to realize that I am really interested in finding out more about myself and becoming one with that great achiever that is still hiding behind them excuses.” TT
How Educate Tomorrow Began in 2003
In 2003 the Emmons sisters, transplants to the Miami area with a commitment to social justice, stumbled upon a piece of barely known Florida legislation. Florida Statute 1009.25 set forth that any Floridian who grew up in foster care, had spent time without a home or was adopted out of the foster care system, had the opportunity to attend any state college, university or vocational program tuition free. Yet at this point in time, nationally branded organizations founded on disadvantaged youth advocacy were unaware of this opportunity and not actively promoting it. Community colleges did not know how to process a state tuition waiver of this nature and of the thousands of kids who enter the Florida dependency system each year, just 8 were utilizing this lifesaving advantage, despite its having been law for almost a decade.
In an effort to end the cycle of delinquency, poverty, and dependence plaguing those who grow up in foster care, the sisters quickly founded Educate Tomorrow with an ethos of Independence Through Education. Education is proven to be a leading indicator of adult success and knowing this the sisters decided that every young person who has experienced abandonment, homelessness or abuse should have a professional mentor to help them realize their potential, and that this support should be a constant. There are a multitude of noble impactful charities which help vulnerable youth in incredible ways, but almost all these services conclude for young people after their 18th birthday or high school graduation, leaving them with the rug figuratively pulled out from under them. Educate Tomorrow is unique in our belief that we are a family to all our students who have never had the benefits of a nurturing family environment. You never age out of a family and Educate Tomorrow believes in creating a Continuum of Care staying engaged with our youth through graduation, college, graduate school, employment and beyond. As our students age, accrue degrees, become young professionals and even parents themselves, our programming continues to evolves in breadth and depth with a focus on meeting our population where they are, working with community partners to provide individually tailored wraparound services for each Educate Tomorrow student.
UPDATE: Miami Dade College's Educate Tomorrow as Single Stop program to launch the Changemaker Corps
UPDATE
Educate Tomorrow is pleased to announce that the Service Year Alliance named our service year model at our Educate Tomorrow at Miami Dade College the 2017 Innovation Award Winner. They identified our model as having the "potential to solve a problem at scale and create powerful social change."
Previous post is below.
The Franklin Project at the Aspen Institute, along with the National Conference on Citizenship and the Corporation for National and Community Service, announced on April 15th, 2015 that Miami Dade College was selected as the winner of the Service Year + Higher Education Innovation Challenge. MDC joins Drake University and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth as one of only three winners of this prestigious national competition.
MDC was selected for two awards: one in the community college category, and the audience choice award for the best project among all finalists. MDC's award-winning Service Year Changemaker Corps project is a peer-to-peer mentoring and support program that helps MDC students at the Educate Tomorrow at Single Stop program who have were formerly in foster care to mentor other former foster-care-system students, with the goal of helping them stay in school, graduate and develop employability skills. MDC received $40,000 from the Lumina Foundation to support the planning and creation of our Changemaker Corps project. This is in partnership with the Institute for Civic Engagement and Democracy (iCED) at Miami Dade College.
6 Changemaker Corps members will enroll in a 3 credit Leadership course and will receive 20 hours of job related training, a monthly stipend and transportation assistance while serving as a peer-to-peer menter 20 hours per week on their campus and in the community.
Who We Serve
Educate Tomorrow is making a push to try to create awareness and support for students that may be eligible for the college tuition waiver under the "custody of a relative" status as well as "apopted from DCF" or "Homeless". As you know traditionally the population we have served has been transitioning foster youth, though we have always made exceptions. With your help we want to expand the parameters.
In 2011 the tuition waiver for those in the custody of a relative was only used 153 times statewide vs. 1,434 foster youth who aged out and 424 for those adopted from DCF. Those numbers should not be that far apart and the word needs to get out about this huge educational opportunity.
Custody of a relative (s. 1009.25(1)(d), F.S.)
1009.25 Fee exemptions.—
(c) A student who is or was at the time he or she reached 18 years of age in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services or who, after spending at least 6 months in the custody of the department after reaching 16 years of age, was placed in a guardianship by the court. Such exemption includes fees associated with enrollment in career-preparatory instruction. The exemption remains valid until the student reaches 28 years of age.
(d) A student who is or was at the time he or she reached 18 years of age in the custody of a relative under s. 39.5085 or who was adopted from the Department of Children and Family Services after May 5, 1997. Such exemption includes fees associated with enrollment in career-preparatory instruction. The exemption remains valid until the student reaches 28 years of age.
In 2009, 1,475 young adults aged out of foster care in Florida. Based on recent statistics, less than 50% will earn a high school diploma before they turn 22, more than half will experience homelessness and only 30% will be gainfully employed. Currently more than 90% of our 132 active participants are enrolled in school or gainfully employed. Nationally less than 3% of former foster youth ever obtain a college degree. There are currently 88 Educate Tomorrow participants who are now over 23 years old. Of those, 44% have a college degree or certification and 94% have their high school diploma or GED.
Bringing education where it's needed most | Brett McNaught and Virginia Emmons-McNaught
Brett & Virginia’s careers in service began on the edge of the Sahara Desert where they met each other while serving as Peace Corps Volunteers in Niger, West Africa. They spent over two years living in mud huts without running water or electricity where they learned to speak the local languages of their communities, built their villages’ first schools and health clinics, and implemented adult literacy programs, health education projects, and agriculture projects. Virginia is the President, co-founder and founding CEO, of Educate Tomorrow and Brett is the current CEO. Educate Tomorrow provides a continuum of care for transitioning foster and homeless youth into adulthood focusing on higher education, employability and permanent connections to a strong community. In 2010, the White House recognized Educate Tomorrow as a top 25 "Program of Promise." Virginia was recently awarded the 2015 Red Cross Spectrum Award for Women in the category of Education and was a finalist for the White House Fellowship in 2012. Before becoming CEO of Educate Tomorrow in 2012, Brett was the Construction Manager for Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans. In 2005, he joined buildOn where he led their International Programs overseeing the construction of 1,045 rural school classrooms for more than 40,000 youth daily in Africa, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean.
2015 Path Awards - Brett McNaught & Virginia Emmons McNaught
Finding Your Power, Purpose and Presence
Finding your Power, Purpose and Presence, is a leadership development course that guides young college or college bound women ages 18-24 on a journey towards self-awareness. Compressed as a summer executive internship model, the life skills course will guide students through a two-week intensive study of self-reflection and workforce etiquette; followed by a five week paired, executive shadowing experience. The two-week intensive study will take place at the Doubletree Grand hotel at 1717 N. Bayshore Drive from June 14th-25th. Guest presenters will be: 1. Paulette White, Life Consultant and former Director of Operations for the Fountainbleu Hotel 2. Rabbi Jenny Skylark, JD., Author, Crisis Counselor and Healer 3. Anita MacBeth, Public School Administrator, Dancer,Certified Yoga Instructor, Aromatherapist and accomplished Jewelry Artisan 4. Valerie Crawford, Organizational and Business Coach 5. Rory Lee, Chemical Engineer and Make-up Artist to the Stars 6. Virginia Emmons-McNaught, Founder Educate Tomorrow.
After June 25th these 12 young women will be placed in an executive setting, 20 hours per week over five weeks to shadow and be mentored by an executive. Executive mentors will interview their mentees and agree on a summer work plan. Each student is expected to complete a portfolio project by the end of the summer session. Internship participants are college students 18-24 years, who are a part of Educate Tomorrow’s mentoring and developmental programs. These young women will be matched with executive woman from our local community, who have a commitment to coaching a young student through one-on-one interaction over a five week summer internship. The job shadowing experience runs July 1st – August 1st. All students will receive 3 college credits with Miami Dade College and a $1,400 stipend for their work.
Please learn more by contacting Alison Austin at 305-374-3751 or email at aaustin@educatetomorrow.org. Visit the website www.educatetomorrow.org. Below is a list of our 2014 Summer Internship Executive Coaches who have volunteered their time to share their experiences with our young women. Cecelia Guterriez-Abety Executive Director, Miami Children’s Initiative; Leigh Toney Executive Director, MDC Entrepreneurial Center; Thamara Labrouse Executive Director, Miami Workers Center; Thumiah Tutt Development Director, Miami Science Museum; Vernita Nelson, Asst City Manager, City of Miami Gardens; Carolyn N Godert, Director Community Outreach, Catalyst Miami; Lauren Cotina, Creative Director, Jefferys Group; Saliha Nelson, Vice President, Urgent Inc.; Tracey Robertson-Carter Executive Director, Cares Mentoring; Graylene Swilley Exec. Dir., Black Hospitality Initiative, Greater Miami CVB; Dr. Deborah Gracia, Chief Medical Officer, Bouriquien Community Health Clinic; Juanita Kirkland, Owner and President, Sheyes Day Care Centers of Miami.
So Many Things to Talk About
So much has been happening at Educate Tomorrow over the past few months it is so difficult to share all of the exciting things at once. We are thrilled to have been mentioned in John Emerson's article this August in The Chronicle of Social Change. https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/news/2013/08/07/unleashing-college-success-for-youth-from-foster-care-nationwide-advances/?print=1
"Another exemplary Florida initiative is Educate Tomorrow’s work in Dade County. They are bringing community partners together to address academic achievement issues for those in foster care – including postsecondary education and training. Their work promoting community dialog and planning includes upcoming work with community colleges. This is an area of national need." -John Emerson, who leads Casey Family Program’s postsecondary education and training for youth from foster care
Educate Tomorrow has partnered with Miami-Dade College to start the Educate Tomorrow program at MDC. What this means specifically is that for the first time Miami Dade College will have a dedicated staff member, an employee of the college, that will work exclusively to support the 325+ students who were formerly in the child welfare system or homeless.
On another unrelated but equally exciting note. Virginia and I just returned from an 8 day RV and camping trip to Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico where we took 5 Educate Tomorrow students, our two babies and my parents. We drove 1,700 miles and visited Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon, Zion, The Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, the Navajo Nation and several Colorado State Parks. It was amazing. Here are some pictures. https://picasaweb.google.com/117109529889731677051/EliteExplorersSlideshow?feat=email
Lastly, we were also mentioned in the Miami Herald today regarding a partnership we have with the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust and the Miami Coalition for the Homeless to accurately count and support Miami's unaccompanied homeless youth ages 13-24. http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/29/3594811/miami-dade-volunteers-survey-kids.html?story_link=email_msg
Cross-Country Explorer Expedition for Former Foster Youth
Educate Tomorrow, a local nonprofit organization in Miami has selected five students to participate in its first annual Elite Explorer Expedition August 15- August 22, 2013. Selected students will be led by CEO. Brett McNaught and Founder, Virginia Emmons McNaught on a journey through the southwestern United States and be given the opportunity to explore mountains, caves and waterways along with the cultural, political and spiritual landscapes of these magnificent regions.
"This is our organizations's most intense life skills course! Many of the students that have been selected have never left the State of Florida or Traveled on an airplane before. This is an incredible, life-changing opportunity for them and us," said Brett McNaught, CEO of Educate Tomorrow.
The geographical expedition will require students to sleep in tents and involve hiking, volunteer service, patience and a dedication to learning. They will experience our Nation's national treasures, including: The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Arches National Park and The Rocky Mountains and much more!
The five students selected are all former foster youth who have aged out of the dependency system and are currently enrolled in college. They are between 18-24 years old have been a part of Educate Tomorrow for a minimum of three months, and have a consistent track record toward educational improvement. Educate Tomorrow's summer internship program offered 9 Educate Tomorrow participants the opportunity to work in a paid internship 10-15 hours per week for 7 weeks this summer. The internship focused on building Educate Tomorrow's capacity to serve more students while providing interns with real job experience. The third goal was to build a stronger bond between Educate Tomorrow participants , staff and volunteer mentors.
Educate Tomorrow is meeting a crucial need in Miami and has been recognized nationally for its design of an innovative model program. In 2010, The White House recognized Educate Tomorrow as a top 25 "Program of Promise" during National Mentoring month. On March 8th, the prestigious College Board, Advocacy & Policy Center named Educate Tomorrow the 2013 Innovation Award winner for the Southern Region of the United States for the category of preparing students for "Getting In" to college.
The Miami Mentoring Collaboartive
Four of Miami's leading mentoring agencies have partnerd in a one-of-kind collaborative to support all efforts towards building a mentor-rich community across Miami-Dade County. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami, Educate Tomorrow, Hope for Miami and Communities In Schools are joining forces to form the "Miami Mentoring Collaborative (MMC)" with a mission to increase the number of youth that get mentoring in the county as well as improve the quality of their matches.
Beginning soon with a much needed recruitment campaign to enroll volunteers in areas of Miami where mentoring is greatly in demand, the MMC hopes to bring more mentors to a huge waiting list of at-risk youth. Through this campaign the MMC will offer a series of events uniting the volunteers from all agencies giving them the opportunity to greet and mingle and learn from experts in the field about the topics related to mentoring.
The MMC through the Mentoring Resrouce Center at Big Brothers Big Sisters will also bridge gaps in service by helping each other enroll the youth and the volunteers into the program that is the right fit for each by referring them to the right program within one of the collabirative agencies. The Mentoring Resource Center will also provide capacity building opportunities for each agency such as staff development trainings.
To find out more about the Miami Mentoring Collaborative please contact Marianne Weiss at 305 644 0066 ext 228 or Brett McNaught at 305 374 3751.
Educate Tomorrow Receives College Board's CollegeKeys Compact Innovation Award
MIAMI – Local non-profit, Educate Tomorrow (www.educatetomorrow.org) is a regional winner of the CollegeKeys Compact Innovation Award. The award was presented on Friday, March 8, 2013 by the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center.
“It is an honor to be presented with the Innovation Award by College Board,” CEO Brett McNaught said. “We are thrilled to be recognized for developing an innovative program to support transitioning foster youth in the attainment of higher education. We know that when young people have a supportive community around them they raise their expectations and succeed.”
The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center chose two regional winners to be recipients of the 2013 CollegeKeys Compact Innovation Awards. Each winner received a $5,000 award to help expand or sustain their program. Educate Tomorrow was the regional winner of the ‘Getting In’ award. Contestants were judged on relevance, innovation, impact and potential.
The CollegeKeys Compact was founded in 2007 after a report issued by the College Board found that too many qualified low- to moderate-income high school graduates do not enroll in a four-year college program. The report attributed this to poor preparation, low expectations and financial barriers. The ‘Getting In’ Award targets programs that focus on searching and recruiting low-income, high achieving students to be accepted into postsecondary institutions.
Educate Tomorrow is a Miami-based non-profit organization that provides one-on-one mentorship programs for local foster youth who are aging out of the foster care system and other students in need. These mentors help youth to further their education and put them on the road to independence. The mentors and Educate Tomorrow staff integrate activities to support the physical, emotional, social and academic needs of participating youth. These activities include one-on-one mentoring, life skills, educational success events, tutoring and career support.
Nationally, less than three percent of foster youth ever obtain a college degree. 44% of Educate Tomorrow’s students over 23 years old have a college degree or certification. Foster youth in Florida have a great opportunity with the Road to Independence Scholarship, which pays for tuition and fees at any Florida university or college. The scholarship also enables them to receive nearly $1,000 per month until they are 23 years old to pay for living expenses. Educate Tomorrow helps and encourages foster youth to take advantage of the opportunities before them.
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Educate Tomorrow, Corp. (www.educatetomorrow.org) is an international, nonprofit, certified 501(c) 3 organization. Educate Tomorrow’s mission is to create independence for foster youth and other disadvantaged youth through education, mentoring, and life skills training. Educate Tomorrow addresses the issue of educational attainment by integrating activities designed to support the physical, emotional, social, and academic needs of current and former foster youth in Miami-Dade County. This integration creates a program that is ultimately more effective than a more traditional mentoring program. Educate Tomorrow is guided by the principles of collaboration, accountability, and civic engagement.
Contact: Kristine B. Snively of Pristine PR at (954) 376-3683, or via e-mail at kristine@pristinepr.com.
Making A Difference
41 of our students have now graduated from college. Graduates came from a variety of fields from certifications in phlebotomy and automotive tech to Master's degrees in Accounting, Social Work and Journalism. We are proud of all our Alumni!
The average age at time of graduation was 23.5 years old. This stresses the importance of Educate Tomorrow's policy that students never age out of our program, they can only graduate out and become Alumni.
Of our 88 students over 23 yrs old, 44% have a college degree or certification. That is compared with less than 5% of former foster youth in Florida and nationally.
93% of our students over 23 yrs old have a High School diploma or GED, compared with less than 60% of former foster youth in Florida.
The 41 college graduates have received degrees or certifications from 15 different colleges and universities. That means we need to cast a wider net and find supporters and mentors outside of Miami.
Now Offering Direct Education Services
For many years Educate Tomorrow has focused on educational mentoring and coupled that with life-skills trainings and college tours. With a project led by Leadership Miami in 2012 we were able to redesign our office to support our youth in a more direct way. We hired an education specialist, Sara Camacho in July and she has been busy putting together a ton of resources to fit the personalized needs of every person in our program. So far it has been a hit with the students who are in the know. We have had students using the Mentee resource center for successful job searches, housing applications, finacial aid, and resume writing. It has been a favorite spot for some to get their home work done or to meet wiht their mentor. We have top of the line and free ACT/SAT/GED prep software and a computer lab with internet. It is just a fun place to come by and hang out. We have partnered with the Doubletree Grand hotel to offer food at cost so we are able to offer every student that drops in a free hot and nutritous meal. I have seen it really change the way we work. I encourage more of our students, mentors and supporters to spread the word and utilize this great resource.
Mentee Resource Center
Where: 1717 N. Bayshore Drive Suite 203, Miami, FL 33139 (located on the second floor of the Doubletree Grand hotel next to the Omni station)
When: Monday 10am-5pm, Tuesday 10am-7pm, W-F 10am-5pm. Additional hours available by appointment.
Phone: 305 374 3751, ask for Sara
The Mentee Resource Center is available to anyone currently in school or wishing to go back to school from 14-24 years old (if you are over 24 you are still welcome). In June 2012 the Educate Tomorrow office was completely redesigned to offer a drop-in center for Miami students.
What we have:
We have 7 work stations with computers and internet access. We have access to unlimited free licenses to some of the best test prep and study tools available. We have an educator on site at all times to provide one-on-one support and guidance, to create study plans and educational goal plans. We assist with college applications, advice on vocational programs, financial aid, scholarships, online tutoring. As well as academic support we also help with resume writing, interview skills and job searches. If you want a mentor to assist with your educational goals we have that available too.
Want specifics? Here is what we have to offer.
Test Prep/Study Options
PERT/FCAT/GED
MyFoundationsLab:
Skills mastery and practice
Online mastery-based resource for assessing and remediating college- and career-readiness skills in reading, writing and mathematics.
Pre-built or customized assessments
Personalized learning plans
Highly interactive learning activities that enable students to master skills at their own pace
GED Prep (Merit Software)
(Can be a basic skills program as well, though geared for the GED)
Must be done at a computer at the Educate Tomorrow office
Interactive learning activities
Self-paced, and self-correcting lessons
Student scores are tracked in a record management system that allows instructors and students to view results and print reports.
The GED Prep Bundle consists of 8 separate software programs that have been effective in preparing students for the GED exam.
Topics Covered:
Language Arts: Reading and Critical Thinking Skills
Language Arts: Writing Skills
Mathematics: Computation and Problem-Solving Skills
Science
Social Studies
SAT/ACT
Kaplan
Prep on your own time
Just for SATs
Diagnostic test that creates a customized study plan for each student
Videos on all SAT topics
Step-by-step problem solving exercises
Self-paces program
Lessons based on diagnostic and practice test results
Online Student and Parent Reports with Smart Reports™—progress, performance, and homework tracking
Smart Reports™. The student portal keeps you informed of your progress on each assignment as well as your performance on every tested topic. You can also view your practice test performance and analyze your strengths and weaknesses by topic area, question type, and more.
Smart Reports™ helps you stay focused on reaching your goals.
4 proctored tests per subscription
PREPWORKS
More for SAT and ACT prep
Also helps with basic knowledge
The Knowledge Toolbox is going to be useful for reference as well
Has visual, audio, and written explanations and activities for students to utilize and work from
Job Skills/Computer Literacy
SkillPort
Computer literacy program from everything from Microsoft word basics, to Microsoft Excel spreadsheet formulas (see catalogue list links below).
Programs have open access all the way up to the end of our product registration end date, which is April 15, 2013. This means you can learn from any course offered up until that date.
There are course basics which are also supplemented by more detailed books, like those you would buy in the stores (ex: Microsoft for Dummies) to further educate and support the learner.
Environment, Safety, Health & Transportation Courseware Catalogue