Letter from Phil Kirk

Two New Programs Working for Kids

Two innovative programs designed to help both educators and students are in place in North Carolina.

DonorsChoose is a nonprofit group where teachers and interested citizens can link up to provide much-needed resources designed to improve students’ learning. Local, state and federal governments do not provide all the financial resources necessary to obtain educational excellence in the classroom.

The second program, Futures for Kids, is designed to help students think about future careers and what it will take for them to be successful. It is also designed to reduce North Carolina’s embarrassingly high dropout rate, which thankfully has declined — albeit slightly — each of the past four years. Hopefully, this effort, along with the High Five program for five Triangle school districts, and the Gates Foundation-funded program for reforming high schools, will dramatically reduce the thousands of students dropping out every school year.

DonorsChoose originally was launched in New York and expanded to North Carolina in February due to the initiative of local entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Brader-Araje. Former governors Jim Holshouser, Jim Hunt and Jim Martin are on the initial board. Other NCCBI members on the initial board are Joe Crocker, Wachovia; Dean Kay Moore, N.C. State University; Deborah Hylton, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice; and Erskine Bowles, Carousel Capital.

At DonorsChoose.org, teachers — primarily those serving children from low-income families — can submit a proposal for any resource that would enhance their students’ learning. Individuals can then review those proposals and choose to fund the project or projects they find most compelling. To ensure the integrity of this exchange, DonorsChoose purchases the materials for the teacher and compiles photographs, student thank-you notes, a teacher impact letter, and receipts for the donor.

Fifteen school districts participated in the pilot during the last school year and all 115 school districts in North Carolina will have access to the web site this month. More than 30,000 teachers and nearly a half-million students were a part of the pilot launch. We should be pleased that North Carolina was the first state outside of New York to participate in this innovative program. I was not surprised to read that teachers in North Carolina spend an average of $500 per year out of their own pockets to help fund projects in their classrooms.

Among the early contributors other than the initial $100,000 from the Michael and Laura Brader-Araje Foundation were Wachovia, Progress Energy, RBC Centura, Kellogg Foundation and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

Missy Sherburne, executive director of DonorsChoose North Carolina, pointed out teachers “can submit any proposal for any kind of resource from a class set of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to graphing calculators.”

How this program came to North Carolina is an interesting story within itself. Brader-Araje happened to be at home one day when Oprah Winfrey featured the New York City program on her show. “I immediately thought to myself, ‘this would work right here,’” he said.

The cost of projects can range from a $100 to a few thousand. Donors can fund an entire project or part of one. Check out the website — www.donorschoosenc.org — for more information.

Futures for Kids began as a simple idea to help a group of high school wrestlers plan for their future. Their coach and founder of the program was Geoff Cramer. He asked a simple question, “Do you know what you will be doing after high school?” He was shocked that most did not know so he set about asking educators, career counselors, students, parents and employers about this issue.

How does it work? Students are given an in-school motivational presentation that encourages them to learn more about careers and planning. They and their families receive free access to a simple, on-line career assessment tool. Employers become involved and provide career fairs, job shadowing events, part-time jobs, internships, apprenticeships, work-study programs and grants.

For more information, visit the web site, www.F4K.org, e-mail lindaw@f4k.org or call 919-875-8885, extension 203. You can also visit http://employers.f4k.org and click on “Learn More.”


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