40 MARION STUDENTS IN NEED OF MENTOR

At Marion High School alone this year,101 students applied to participate in ProjectLeadership’s mentoring program forTwenty-first Century Scholars. To date, 61Marion students have been matched witha community volunteer who is mentoringthe Scholar once a week at the highschool. Forty students remain on a waitinglist. Community volunteers like you areneeded to provide the support thatScholars need to find success. Mentorsmake a one-year commitment to meetwith one student once a week at the highschool.For more informationon Project Leadershipmentoring, call(765) 651-0650 orvisit the website byscanning the code tothe right with yoursmartphone.

Coalition Lunch to focus on education opportunities

A local coalition is challenging others toredefine how people view college and whoshould attend.“College is any education you receiveafter you graduate with a high school diploma– whether it’s 6 weeks or 10 years,”said Kent Cocking, director of guidance atMarion High School.Kent is part of a small steering team forGrant County’s College Success Coalition,which formed earlier this year. The purposeof the Coalition is to establish communitypartnerships around a common goal – to getlocal youths to complete their educations.On November 29th, community membersand leaders are invited to participate in aneducation forum and lunch from 11:30 a.m.to 1 p.m. at Marion’s Ivy Tech CommunityCollege conference center. One of the purposesof the meeting will be to discuss localactivities that are taking place to promoteeducation and college success to youths. Thecommunity, including representatives frombusinesses, organizations, clubs, non-profitsand churches are encouraged to attend.“There is a need to coordinate the activitiesof people in the community who dothings for college success,” said coalitionsteering team member Ellen Spitzer. “Wewant a lot of different sections of the communityto join the discussion. We want toknow about what they’re doing so that wedon’t continue to repeat the same activities.Mississinewa High School guidancecounselor Debbie Dailey said: “Sometimeswe hear negative in the community, such ascomments about the unemployment rate andask, ‘What are people doing to fix that?’This College Success Coalition initiative istrying to put positive energy behind somethingneeded in the community. We wantpeople to come to the meeting who are interestedin seeing the workforce change.”Bengie Rodriguez, a manager at GrantCounty’s Walmart Distribution Center, isencouraging businesses to participate in theforum, pointing toward the push in the workforcesector for education and the new expectationsemployers place on future employees.“At Walmart, there is a real push togo to school,” he said.Cocking agreed that it’s vital for businessesand organizations with opportunitiesthat allow students to further their educationsbeyond high school to join in on the communitydiscussion.“We spend way too much time in educationcircles pushing kids into four-year colleges,”he said. “Many four-year collegestudents already know how to get there. Butthere are so many opportunities for kids inthe community to get trainings beyond that,”Cocking added, pointing toward examples ofcertifications and apprenticeships that canhelp prepare students for the workforce. “Weneed to centralize as a community so thatparents and students know how to accessthese opportunities. We should devise wraparoundservices for every kid that leaveshigh school so that no matter where they’regoing, they’re prepared.”IF YOU WANT TO GO: RSVP for theNov. 29th community lunch by contactingProject Leadership at 651-0650 ortpearson@projectleadership.or

Grant County's College Success Coalition

About the Coalition:

The Grant County College Success Coalition is a community network with the common goal of increasing the percentage of students who enter college in the fall following their high school graduation and earn a college degree or certificate within the first four years of college.

Coalition members do this by implementing activities to help students find college-access mentors, succeed in a rigorous college prep curriculum, develop a college plan, and obtain financial aid.


Who should join?

All schools, churches, non-profit agencies, community service groups and businesses that care about the community’s young people and have an interest in the county’s well-being


How do I join?

Visit the Grant County College Success Coalition website at:
www.grantcountycsc.org
There, you can register your organization, view school data and submit activity ideas.

Member activities:

Member organizations commit to sponsor at least one activity per year to help students and/or adults enter and succeed in college. The coalition team will work together to generate activity ideas, guidelines and materials. These activities can be as involved as providing one-on-one FAFSA assistance or as simple as distributing college flyers. Members are invited to attend three coalition members a year where they will analyze data and make decisions about the coalition’s vision, goals and activities.