The Fort Worth Chamberletter

By Hanh Nguyen, marketing intern

Stop Six church of Christ GO Center Executive Director Loretta Burns discusses a project with Sara Shannon, TCU BRIDGE intern.

College is possible for many Texans, but most have a lack of knowledge or understanding of how to apply.

“There are lots of free resources to help students to get in college but the problem is that not many people know about that,” said Glenn Spoons, GO Center Coordinator at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. “The main reason our kids don’t go to college is not about money, it is about motivation.”

To help ‘bridge the gap,’ the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce is working with the Texas Christian University BRIDGE Internship Program, which provides opportunities for TCU students to work and serve in non-profit and faith-based organizations.

Sara Shannon, senior Communication/Human Relations major at TCU, is a BRIDGE intern at the GO Center at Stop Six Church of Christ this semester. GO Centers are college- and career-information centers located on high school campuses and at other community-based organizations. Volunteers like Sara provide students and parents access to a variety of resources to help with college pursuits.

Sara’s goal is to build awareness about higher education and help students and parents realize attending college is possible. She guides students through the College for All Texans website, which has information about financial aid, college locations, degree plans and career choices. She currently assists and mentors three students who are in kindergarten, 3rd, and 10th grade.

Convincing students college is possible can be challenging, but Sara loves what she has been doing.

“I was nervous at first because I had never done something like this before,” said Sara. “But I want to help kids and be involved in the community.”

Sara’s 10th grade student has an unpredictable schedule because she doesn’t have transportation. But the student enjoys coming to the GO Center if she gets a ride.

“She has a hard family life and no one to really help her,” Sara said. “She wants to go college at University of Texas at Arlington but she doesn’t know how it would be possible for her. My role is to keep up that motivation and assist however I can with getting the information.”

In 2001, the 77th Legislature adopted Closing the Gaps by 2015, a proactive plan designed to increase Texans’ participation and success in higher education. As the result, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board launched College for Texans, a marketing and outreach initiative in 2002 with the Education: GO-Get-It campaign. Go Centers serve as the primary point of coordination between the Education: GO-Get-It campaign efforts and local communities. By 2007, Go Centers were set up in all 13 Fort Worth ISD high schools.

The Fort Worth Independent School District’s Project Prevail is the recipient of a four year, $400,000 grant from the AT&T Foundation. The first allotment in the grant was presented January 22 at a news conference at FWISD’s Trimble Tech High School (shown above.)

Project Prevail is a comprehensive effort to increase the number of students graduating from Fort Worth high schools fully prepared for post-secondary education or gainful employment. To this end, the FWISD is proud of the partnership it has established with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce to operate GO Centers throughout the District.

GO Centers are computer equipped locations overseen by school staff and volunteer mentors from higher education or business. Students can visit GO Centers for computer access to college, financial aid and career information. First established in 2004, GO Centers are now operating in all FWISD high schools and two faith-based organizations.

“For more than two years now, the Fort Worth ISD and the Fort Worth Chambers have been encouraging the entire community to be proactive in find ways to support students to stay in school until they graduate. Project Prevail is the umbrella under which the Fort Worth ISD sponsors a comprehensive stay-in-school initiative”, said Superintendent Melody Johnson. “It’s one thing to talk about keeping kids in school. It’s quite another thing to do something about it. And, today, AT&T is helping us take a spectacular giant step toward school completion for thousands of Fort Worth kids.”

“We are passionate about supporting programs like Project Prevail that addresses key factors in high school retention and creates that extra support with students,” said AT&T External Affairs Director David Parker. “As a major corporation, we are concerned about our workforce competing in the global economy. By helping students graduate from high school and encouraging them to continue their education and start building their careers, we can help students succeed – not just in school, but in life.”

This grant is part of AT&T’s signature initiative, AT&T Aspire, which helps address high school success and workforce readiness. AT&T has committed $100 million in philanthropy through 2011 to schools and nonprofit organizations that are focused on high school retention and better preparing students for college and the workforce.