Tallahassee Mayor Marks at the Ghazvini Learning Center. View all photos in WFSU's American Graduate photo album.
Through the American Graduate project WFSU is hosting a series of professional networking lunches for students at Ghazvini Learning Center. Once a month, 32 students are selected to attend the lunch and meet professionals from the community and learn firsthand what it takes to work in a particular profession. Students have the opportunity to have lunch with and ask questions of one of eight professionals representing different career paths.
American Graduate "helps students create the framework to fulfill a vision of success."
The 2012 events are scheduled as follows:
- January 25th: Healthcare
- February 22nd: Criminal justice & law enforcement
- March 28th: Public service and nonprofit
- April 25th: Arts, Communication & entertainment
- May 23rd: Business and entrepreneurs
Operation AGES (American Graduate to Economic Security) – Connecting Teens to their Future
GOALS: To connect students to their future; to understand the importance and value of a high school diploma; to map pathways to jobs and careers.
DESIGN: 18-week program meeting once a week for a class period (January 2012-May 2012). 25 students from the Ghazvini Learning Center will be selected to participate in an intensive examination on connecting to future aspirations through a series of exercises that examine social and emotional well-being, preparing for academic success and learning about potential professions.
LEADERSHIP: WFSU will contract Zachary Richardson, President of the Character Center. Zack Richardson has more than 20 years of professional experience teaching, counseling, and mentoring "at-risk" youth of all ages. To date he has spoken, trained, and performed before more than 20,000 students and parents.
Since January of 2012, WFSU has been working with students at the Success Academy at Ghazvini Learning Center. Twenty-six students were selected to be part of a leadership class where they would set personal goals, take responsibility for their academic success and lead by example for the rest of the school. These students met three times a week. One aspect of the program was to create short public service announcements or PSAs. The students worked in groups and selected topics that were meaningful to them. They wrote the scripts, selected and created the music, starred in them and oversaw the editing of the final videos. The final four videos were judge by staff at WFSU with the following results:
