Midlands Students Team With At&T Employees And Junior Achievement To Learn Skills For Future Success
July 30, 2014
AT&T’s Aspire Mentoring Academy & Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina
Host 40 Local Students for “Day in the Life of an AT&T Employee” Mentoring Event
COLUMBIA, SC – Investing time to help teens develop skills for future success can be a gift that lasts a lifetime. That is why AT&T employees are teaming up with Junior Achievement to mentor 40 students from Columbia’s Ben Arnold Teen Center and Camden’s Jackson Teen Center of the Boys and Girls Club of the Midlands on topics such as decision-making, financial literacy, communication skills, career planning and mobile safety.
“The AT&T/ Junior Achievement collaboration will offer a very positive and eye-opening experience for our teens,” said Boys and Girls Clubs of the Midlands Area Director of Troy Thames. “By giving these students a first-hand look into real jobs near their own homes, their minds will be opened to a new world of career choices – and the paths to get there.”
The AT&T Aspire Mentoring Program is driven by AT&T employees who are passionate about making a difference. During a regular business workday, employees share life experiences and career advice through project-based activities, complete problem-solving activities in a group setting, and teach students how to manage their digital footprint. Employees also encourage students to take the pledge not to text while driving through AT&T’s It Can Wait movement.
“This will be the 13th Junior Achievement / AT&T Aspire Mentoring event this school year,” said Junior Achievement program director Kathy Simmons, “Three hundred Midlands students have participated this school year. This is important because evaluation findings of students who have participated in the AT&T/JA Job Mentoring initiative show that this program does have a significant impact on students by changing their attitudes about staying in school.”
In addition to the students meeting with and experiencing the jobs of real AT&T employees, the students can pose questions to AT&T’s Customer Relations Director Rodney McClure. “AT&T is very proud of having the nation’s largest job mentoring initiative, in conjunction with Junior Achievement,” says McClure, “It is always rewarding to share with South Carolina students how their efforts while in school can and will translate into productive careers and lives.”
Aspire Mentoring Academy is a part of AT&T Aspire, AT&T’s $350 million investment in education, which is among the most significant U.S. corporate educational initiatives. The program, which has impacted over 1 million students in all 50 states since its initial launch in 2008, drives innovation in education through proven programs that address the high school dropout crisis and taps into the power of personal connections involving many of AT&T’s approximately 240,000 employees.
To learn more about Aspire Mentoring Academy, please visit www.att.com/aspirementoring/.
About Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina (JACSC)
Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina provides educational programs that help young people understand the economics of life. In partnership with businesses and educators, JA brings the real world to students, opening their minds to their full potential. JA inspires young people to improve the quality of their lives through economic and business education. Junior Achievement student programs focus on seven key content areas: business, citizenship, economics, entrepreneurship, ethics/character, financial literacy, and work-related life skills/career development. For more information, visit http://centralsc.ja.org or www.ja.org
About Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands has experienced incredible growth and success in its half century of existence and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009. Today, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands operates 39 Clubs, 8 summer camps, and a teen center serving youth and families from Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Newberry and Richland Counties. BGCM serves more than 6,000 members in the Midlands area each year, and is the only program in South Carolina open to the public that has achieved accreditation by the gold standard Council of Accreditation (COA). Parents and caregivers interested in having their children join the Club can visit BGCMidlands.org.
About Community Engagement at AT&T
At AT&T, Community Engagement means engaging our employees to build strong, connected, and thriving communities where we live and do business. Employees are focused on three key issues: improving educational outcomes, building sustainable communities and promoting the responsible use of technology. In 2011, employees and retirees donated 6 million hours of time to community outreach activities and pledged more than $33 million for charities of their choice through the United Way/Employee Giving campaign. Employees also committed to more than 21,000 sustainable choices through Do One Thing (DOT), which invites employees to make small, everyday choices that add up to a big positive impact for themselves, the community and/or the company.
