Raising Savannah
When Heysi Alvarez immigrated to this country from Honduras at the tender age of nine, she admits she struggled academically, culturally, and personally.
“I had to learn English so that put me in a shell. It was hard for me to speak out for myself,” recalls the oldest daughter of a single mom. “I had to grow up and find my own voice, quickly.”
Alvarez didn’t have high hopes.
“Given my immigration status, I thought my future would be cleaning houses,” she admits. “I didn’t know what the future held for me, but I knew I had to look out for myself.”
And then she got involved in Gulfstream’s Student Leadership Program (SLP). After graduating from the program and Groves High School in 2014, she ended up landing a job at the company that taught her and other high school students about the foundations of leadership.
“Now I work at a corporation that not only is a good place to work, but it also helps the community,” says Alvarez, a senior technician in Gulfstream’s Human Resources Data Quality department. “SLP gave me the right influence at a time when you are vulnerable to the wrong influences. It became my backbone.
All over the world, youth leadership programs provide young people with the knowledge to build leadership skills and increase opportunities for empowerment. Programs take myriad forms, including advocacy groups, peer education, service-learning, mentoring programs, and local government youth advisory councils and boards, all in the name of boosting young people’s self-esteem, social skills, and problem-solving skills.
The need is great. Based on data from the United States Census Bureau, there are 73.3 million people under the age of 18 living in the United States, 22.4 percent of the total population. The national high school graduation rate stands at 84.6 percent while the poverty rate is at 18.4 percent. In Chatham County, kids under the age of 18 fare a bit better—86.6 percent—when it comes to graduating but face a crippling poverty rate of 24.2 percent.
That’s why any and all efforts to build up children in this community are necessary. Herein are but a few of the programs giving a lift to our future.
Girls on the Run
Maria Center, executive director of Girls on the Run (GOTR) Coastal Georgia and Lowcountry, wants to dispel a misunderstanding.
“This is not a track club. Running is merely a vehicle,” she says. “Our ultimate mission is to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident. We use an experience-based curriculum that creatively integrates running. Our vision is a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.”
The after-school program targeting third through eighth grade girls is a national program that was founded in 1996 in Charlotte, N.C. The local council has been in place for about 13 years and is on track to serve 1,500 girls in the 2019-2020 school year across Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, and Liberty Counties in Georgia, and Beaufort and Jasper Counties in South Carolina.
The ten-week program meets twice a week for an hour and a half each time. Sessions start with a snack and then the girls participate in interactive activities, running games, and deep-dive discussions into topics designed to help them navigate the changes of growing up and entering adolescence. In addition to developing and executing a community service project, girls also participate in a 5K race, an event that typically draws 4,000 cheering community members.
“One of my favorite topics the girls discuss is ‘What is Real Beauty?’” says Center. “We look at magazines and advertisements and try to instill in them that it’s not your face, it’s what’s in your heart and head. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and every color in the rainbow.”
Other topics include self-respect, respecting others, responsibility, the importance of work, conflict resolution, and the art of negotiation.
“We also teach goal setting, which is fundamental to any success in life, and that’s where the 5K comes in,” says Center. “They gradually build up their stamina and this is a goal they can work toward and experience a sense of achievement that will bleed into other areas of their lives.”
According to Center, half of all girls between the ages of 10 and 13 experience bullying, and their physical activity starts declining when they turn nine, a decline that continues throughout adolescence.
“There are risky behaviors that can be avoided if these girls have a positive outlet and positive messaging with caring adults guiding and helping them. With our poverty rate, a lot of these kids don’t have these influences. That’s why it’s needed in a community like this with a high proportion of disadvantaged children.”
Moving forward, Center says GOTR is looking at new models, such as Saturday/Sunday programs, to serve girls who can’t meet during the school week or have transportation issues. The group also recently worked with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability to develop curriculum adaptations and resources for girls with sensory, physical, and cognitive disabilities and will be offering this new curriculum spring of 2020.
Fees are based on a sliding scale of anywhere between $40 (for those who receive free school lunches) to $185 (full fee). That includes trained coaches, 30 hours of high quality structured learning, all materials and supplies, snacks, T-shirt, water bottle, registration and finisher’s medal and discounted registrations for family members.
For those interested in registering, coaching, or volunteering, call 912-349-1528 or visitgotrcoastalgeorgialowcountry.org.
M.A.L.E. Dreamers
The M.A.L.E. (Motivated Aspiring Leaders of Excellence) Dreamers at West Chatham Middle School, a mentoring program for middle school boys, came about because Robert R. Jordan, Jr., a seventh-grade special education teacher, saw a need as the only male teacher at his school.
“I found myself gravitating toward the boys to talk to them about social problems and how to think things through,” recalls Jordan, whose background is in clinical social work. “These boys need someone to mentor them. I thought about it over the summer before the 2015-2016 school year and brought the idea to my administrator. Over a period of time, it just developed.”
Initially, Jordan inducted 15 boys into the program, a number that’s since grown to more than 60. Students in the no-cost program benefit from being mentored socially, behaviorally, or academically by a team of a dozen Dream Coaches, and participate in a variety of activities, like touring the Jepson Center, bagging groceries at Salvation Army, hosting a Mother-Son formal dance as a fundraiser, or meeting state legislators at the capitol in Atlanta.
“I got donated suits and bowties and the Dreamers were dressed from head to toe,” says Jordan. “It’s important to expose them to something outside the norm. If we can capture their attention in middle school and show them options, then we can impact what society is going to look like.”
Jordan wants to spread M.A.L.E. Dreamers throughout the school district, targeting middle schools, and ultimately open a Dreamer Center for Boys. Like his work at West Chatham, Jordan says he would focus on character, integrity, leadership, scholarship, and citizenship, “all of the areas boys can be an asset and not a liability to society.” His next campaign is to recruit 20 dedicated men to volunteer with the program.
“Boy, if I had the funds like LeBron,” Jordan laughs. “I would set up Dreamers programs around this district and go in and train staff and administration on what mentorship looks like. Some of the boys may move on to being a mentor themselves, because once you become a Dreamer, you’re a Dreamer for life.”
To volunteer or for more information on the program, call 912-395-3650.
Savannah Youth Ambassadors
Margaret Williams, assistant director of Human Services for the City of Savannah, says times have changed drastically for young people.
“With social media, kids can be alone with their phones and think they’re engaged,” she says. “It’s so different from interacting with real life.”
Savannah Youth Ambassadors (SYA), a year-round initiative of the City of Savannah’s Community Services division, aims to give young people that real-life experience.
Established on the values of social awareness, civic engagement, and personal and professional development, SYA fosters youth leadership and civic engagement through City-sponsored training, cultural exploration opportunities, and community impact projects. Targeting ninth through 12th graders, the program covers topics like financial literacy, the importance of voting, managing communication and interpersonal skills, and community service, among others.
Last year, for example, students participated in service projects such as Slam Dunk to Funk, a community cleanup effort, and St. Joseph’s Smart Living and Health Fair, where they volunteered at the door and assisted attending seniors. Throughout the year, the group also took field trips to the Georgia Ports, International Paper, Georgia Southern University, and Savannah-Chatham Day at the state capitol in Atlanta.
“We’ve designed the program so that they can be actively engaged in what goes on in their community,” Williams says. “This allows them to come to the table and gives them confidence.”
During the school year, sessions are held on the second Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. until noon, and SYA summer sessions are held Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in June from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. All program costs are covered by the City of Savannah.
Participants must be a resident of the City of Savannah and enrolled in school. Last year, the 29 Ambassadors completed 892 leadership training hours and 423 community service hours.
“Workforce development and workforce readiness is a huge challenge and we want to prepare students for that,” Williams says. “Our ultimate goal is to start them on a career path and have the kinds of citizens we want in Savannah.”
For more information on how to apply or how to sponsor SYA, call 912-651-6520 or visit Savannahga.gov/SYA.
Student Leadership Program
In probably one of the best examples of a public-private partnership, Gulfstream partnered with the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System in 2008 to help students graduate high school. The resulting Student Leadership Program (SLP) has now evolved to be so much more.
“We’ve grown the program to 600 ninth through twelfth graders with the goal of giving local students the opportunity to connect with business leaders and help foster their own leadership identity,” says Chris Nowicki, public affairs and community investment consultant. “Businesses and private industry have a priority to partner with the public school system to achieve its mission so public schools don’t have to do it alone.”
During the six leadership sessions held throughout the school year, students learn about personal leadership development, time management, conflict resolution, working in teams, making first impressions, financial literacy and dining etiquette. In addition, between their junior and senior years in the program, students take a trip to Washington, D.C. to give them a broader perspective on leadership.
“We focus on giving them experiences, like taking them to military installations or a two-year or four-year or technical college to see what experiences they could have there,” Nowicki says. “Students also begin to understand what it takes to manage your money and write a résumé. All of those things are going to be crucial to their success.”
There is no cost to the program other than the students’ commitment, notes Nowicki, and all 11 public high schools offer it. Nearly 600 students apply each year for 150 slots. To date, more than a thousand students have graduated from the program.
“It doesn’t matter what part of town you’re from, this reaches every school and brings every student together,” says Nowicki. “Young people are prone to building a wall around themselves and saying they can’t. My passion is getting them to bust that wall down and become a sponge to learn everything they can.”
With the school district’s successes over the past dozen years, Nowicki says it’s time to re-evaluate and revamp the program’s focus. A steering committee of business leaders is examining the model and students’ input will be solicited over the next year to re-imagine the program and maintain relevance. A new SLP will be relaunching in fall 2020.
To apply or to learn about how you can volunteer with the SLP program, visit discoverslp.com.