Jada discusses the impact of the Shepherds program.
Tag Archives: Tag: Bridgeport
Dear Shepherds Friends,
The month of April normally brings many positive themes to our attention – longer days, warmer sun, birds chirping early in the morning, and a budding optimism for the coming months. This year obviously brings all those normal occurrences but with the added cautious optimism of a world recovering from a pandemic health crisis.
For our Shepherds students and community, this spring also brings the opportunity to be back in the classroom more, to engage in team sports, and for students and mentors to see each other in outdoor settings. We again congratulate our students, their families, mentors, our school partners for the good faith effort all put into making this past year as successful as one could hope.
With that renewed sense of optimism and self-confidence, it’s time to call upon on this collective strength of the Shepherds community to help build for the school year 2021 – 2022. As you might realize from the financial and personal repercussions of the last year, the need for a quality education in a safe environment, for a positive role model in the life of a young person and the support of an organization where the 14 year old high school student is the “franchise player” has rarely been greater.
What I am asking is simply to invite our Shepherds family to spread the word about what Shepherds does, the opportunity it provides to underserved individuals, the impact it makes “changing lives”, and the rewards it bestows on students, mentors and donors alike. Being part of the Shepherds team does require tangible effort and resources; the rewards, however, are immeasurable intangibles!
We are now interviewing over 15 students and expect more to be seeking to participate in Shepherds’ Class of 2025. We are seeking mentors and financial resources to meet that demand. The Shepherds’ story sells itself. Thank you for passing it along.
With your assistance we can again prove that We are Better Together, in every sense and application of those words.
Led by Lisa Matson and Shepherds Intern Sydney King, two evenings of discussion of the book Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.
Led by Lisa Matson and Shepherds Intern Sydney King, two evenings of discussion of the book Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.
Join a virtual discussion about Public Sector jobs. Shepherds Students and Mentors are invited to join in the breakout discussions with several volunteers to discuss their jobs, the education and skills necessary to do the job, along with what an average day looks like in their career.
Shepherds had to get creative this year with our Career Day due to the pandemic. Mother Necessity is the springboard for innovation, and our first virtual Career Conversation focusing on Healthcare was a smashing success which will impact future Career Days for years to come.
Organized and led by Shepherds Intern, Sydney King, Shepherds Students learned about a variety of healthcare positions, the education and skills needed and what day to day looks like for each career. Using Zoom breakout rooms, students were able to interact with the healthcare professionals in a smaller group.
A special thank you to our volunteers who shared their experiences with our students. Bernie Parks – nurse. Janet Wells – Lab Work. Kara Mather – Sports Medicine. Kathy Colucci – Hospital Pharmacist. Melissa Czajkowski – Nurse Practitioner.
Join a virtual discussion about Business sector jobs. Shepherds Students and Mentors are invited to join in the breakout discussions with several volunteers to discuss their jobs, the education and skills necessary to do the job, along with what an average day looks like in their career.
The pandemic has shined a light on socio-economic disparities in education in Connecticut. Per the CT Mirror, this Spring during the COVID-19 shutdown of schools “In Bridgeport, a full half of the student body didn’t show up regularly for remote schooling during the pandemic compared to 19% who were chronically absent before school buildings closed.” Likewise in New Haven, public school district leadership told the State Education Accountability Committee, that during the first week of remote learning this fall an estimated 65% of the students participated. As a point of comparison, Fairfield Warde and Ludlowe High Schools had participation rates in the 90+% this September per CT Data.
Now more than ever, inner city high school students have more barriers to accessing a quality, college preparatory high school education. For 22 years, Shepherds has been addressing educational disparities in Fairfield and New Haven Counties. Our track record speaks for itself. 95% of our students graduate on time and 90% attend institutes of higher learning after high school, as compared to their public school peers graduation rates of 65-75% and college entrance rates hovering around 60%.
The needs of inner city high school students in Connecticut are greater than ever. With a donation to Shepherds today, you will be investing in a student’s future and helping solve the education opportunity gap right in your own backyard.
Mentoring young people relies upon the power of interpersonal connections with their mentors. Maintaining those connections can be challenging during COVID and creating new ones can prove to be even trickier. Shepherds has met these challenges head-on for our new mentors for the students of the Shepherds Class of 2024.
Shepherds has a robust training program for mentors, students and their families which normally takes place in person. COVID has changed our training program to a hybrid of virtual and in-person training which has required some adjustments. We are happy to report that our new mentors and freshman students have begun making solid personal connections.
Zoom meetings kicked off mentor training with a focus on mentoring expectations and mentoring in safe virtual and in-person environments. Our staff was impressed with how engaged our mentors were during these sessions. Up next were parent and student training sessions followed up with in-person meetings for most and a virtual meet up for one mentor, student and parent.
When mentors, students and parents met for the first time, it became clear that it is easy to be social and get to know another and still stay six feet apart. Shepherds Staff witnessed the beginning of new relationships and being physically distant, wearing masks and using hand sanitizer didn’t change a thing.
For over 20 years, Shepherds has been empowering inner-city Connecticut teens to build a foundation for success by helping close the educational inequality gap in Fairfield and New Haven counties.
Shepherds provides each student the tuition support to attend a college preparatory education, academic and life skills programs, and the positive role model and four-year guidance of a Shepherds Mentor.
Shepherds is repeatedly asked the question, “Who are your students?” We are able to provide the demographics of race, gender, income difficulties, etc., and these are important data points about our students. However, it doesn’t capture who they ARE.
This year, we asked the incoming freshman to write a poem entitled, “I AM.” Shepherds believes these poems are powerful statements about who our students are – what their hopes, goals, dreams and fears are.
To find out how you can be a part of changing a teen’s life, go to www.shepherdsmentors.org or contact Executive Director Dan McAuliffe at info@shepherdsmentors.org.
You can make a difference, right in your own backyard.
