WINNEMUCCA - Two local women serving on a committee connected with the Winnemucca Futures Project considered a problem, organized an active solution, involved and trained 30 volunteers, raised funding, and offered an opportunity to sophomore students at Lowry High School. The opportunity offered and the name of the program were the same, "Explore Your Future."
The end goal for Explore Your Future (EYF) was to offer 10th grade students at Lowry the opportunity to tour a college campus. The students were given a couple of months of preparation so they'd get the most out of the college tours, and the experience as a whole.
Three class sessions taught by community volunteers involved the students in actively considering the whole range of post-high school education opportunities, from colleges and universities to trade schools, technical schools and certification programs.
In class discussions and homework assignments, the students looked up websites, researched options, considered the size of colleges and the size of the communities in which they were located.
They thought about and discussed what they were interested in, what they could afford, where they might live, what kind of transportation they'd need, how much their education might cost and how long it might take.
A total of 53 students completed the class sessions and the homework and had the opportunity to tour one of three college campuses -140 students completed only part of the assignments, and several students who completed the classes and homework were unable to attend the tour because of failing grades.
A total of 44 students were at the school when the buses left early Saturday morning, April 15. Program supporters paid for transportation in comfortable tour-type buses and bought the students' lunches.
Chaperones took students to their choice of University of Nevada-Reno (UNR), Truckee Meadows Community College, or Great Basin College's central campus in Elko.
Arlene Lunen, whose group of students toured UNR, said, "We all had a really good time; these students were great. They followed directions, were very respectful, and got along great. I was very proud to be with this group of young adults."
She added, "On the buses and at the college, they were great representatives of Lowry."
After the tours, the students gave feedback on their experience by filling out a survey. Although a number of students said they didn't like having to do homework to qualify for the program, one evaluation showed the value of that preliminary work: "The pre-work helped me think in more detail about the college experience and the preparation needed."
Students mentioned enjoying the presentation by the tour guide. Several students mentioned being glad to learn there were services on campus to help students keep their grades up. They liked seeing the whole college campus and different college buildings; they were surprised and pleased with the number of programs available, and liked getting a view of what college life would be like - the atmosphere and setting.
Several mentioned being impressed by the beautiful girls; several mentioned appreciating that the tour was provided without cost.
The costs for the program were picked up by donors Newmont, Barrick, Hycroft, HGH, Marigold, NV Energy and Recology. Coach America provided buses for the tours at a discounted price and Great Basin Gold provided all of the copies of class materials.
In addition, many employers supported their employees' involvement in the program by granting time off for the class presentations or for the tour.
One student commented, regarding the EYF program and the companies who sponsored it, "It shows that people care about our future."
When asked what they thought could be done to improve the program, quite a number of them gave several variations of the comment, "Nothing, it was great." A number of students said they'd like to have had the opportunity to visit inside the classrooms, and to talk with other college students about their experience.
Some students wished they'd had the opportunity to visit more schools - but now that they've had this experience they can work toward doing that with their parents or on their own.
Local organizers were Carrie Stringham and Sue Hawkins, co-chairmen for EYF. The two have also served as co-chairmen of the Winnemucca Futures Committee tasked with community capacity building. They and other committee members felt an effort to encourage some of the youth in the community to explore their future was definitely a way to build the community.
The students made the trip in first-class style on beautiful new Coach America tour buses. Stringham said the Coach America company was great to work with.
The Explore Your Future program attracted the notice of Gov. Brian Sandoval's Workforce Investment Board. Luther Mack, chairman of that board, appointed Carrie Stringham to the board.
Earl McDowell, deputy administrator for the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR), serves as staff for the governor's workforce investment board and said that information Stringham put together on EYF will be featured on the state website. Anyone in the state who feels the EYF program would be a benefit to youth they're working with will have the information on how it was organized as well as feedback from participants in Winnemucca.
Stringham and Hawkins estimated the total of their volunteer hours and asked each of the other 30 volunteers to do the same. Nevada Small Business Center Director Bill Sims, who also serves on the futures committee, gathered the information and gave a cumulative final estimate of at least 360 hours spent by the EYF volunteers.
Stringham and Hawkins will not be leading the program next year, but say now that the groundwork has all been laid and the program and contacts developed, it should be much easier for the person or people who make the arrangements for the program next year.
Anyone interested in heading up Explore Your Future 2014 should call Bill Sims at the Small Business Development Center, 623-1064.[[In-content Ad]]
