The Kenny Thomas Foundation's "Education Initiative" campaign seeks to heighten the awareness of the importance of education to children's futures.  The Education Initiative includes a Mentoring Program, a Six-Week Tutoring Program and a Parent Involvement Program.

The "Education Initiative Kick-Off Celebration" will be held at each participating school. This Celebration is held to get the students excited about the programs and eager to participate. A live DJ, appearances from local radio and television personalities, guest speakers (community leaders and celebrities), as well as appearances by NBA players make this event an encouraging and memorable experience.

Specifically, the “Education Initiative” will focus on four long-term priorities:

Priority #1 - To provide education support to students within participating schools that eventually will include all students within the school districts the program serves.

Priority #2 - To raise awareness of the importance of education for all who live, work and do business in these communities. As the campaign moves forward a major focus will be on ensuring that academic excellence is highlighted throughout the entire city by posting information on billboards, posters and in day-to-day conversation.

Priority #3 – High School Completion and Professional Development – Research shows that the national graduation rate is around 71% and the standardized tests used as a benchmark for competency are equally disappointing. Therefore, we must work as a community to change these alarming statistics. We are developing tutoring programs for sophomore and junior students designed to help them excel at the standardized tests that currently keep some of them from attaining their high school diplomas. Also, we are looking to have business, government, and community leaders volunteer their time to mentor freshman and sophomore students who have invested the time to make good grades. The exposure to professional individual succeeding in life is a great influence on how they will lead their own lives. We recognize the business community is an important stakeholder in this effort and will work with them to achieve our goals.

Priority #4 – Parental Involvement – Current research strongly suggests that the parent is the child’s first and most significant teacher. But as children progress in school, parents tend to become less and less involved in their children’s education. The lack of involvement has proven to lead to higher incidence of skipping and dropping out of school. We want to make parental involvement a priority of these youth who are at such a pivotal time in their lives where the participation of a concerned parent may be the difference in their life path. Specifically, this “Education Initiative” priority will work directly with school principals and administrators to increase parental attendance at PTA and PTO meetings, open houses, and individual meetings addressing concerns about their children. Schools and parents will receive incentives on behalf of Kenny Thomas Foundation by encouraging and recording attendance of active participation among parents.

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