Future Focus Foundation (F3) incorporates a totally new, and innovative approach to one of the many problems with the mismatch of our current education system and the future workforce needs. How do we solve this problem? Encouraging today’s students to understand, particularly as young teenagers, it is most important to have a goal. First graduate high school, and then attend a two-year technical college where they can learn and then earn a specific trade certification. It is interesting to note that the average age of students attending two-year technical colleges is in the mid-twenties. If that average age could be reduced, one could contemplate the additional earning power that students could attain at an earlier age. Focusing on young teenagers, providing encouragement, guidance, and real incentive towards continuing their education through our early scholarship program is the sole function of the Future Focus Foundation.
How do we incentivize students, and more particularly, those whose future precludes a realistic possibility of a four-year college education. And how do we provide opportunities for students from lower socio-economic environments the chance to live an enhanced future economic life? The Foundation has developed a unique, but quite simple, approach for selected candidates. Create a fund for selected students to incent and encourage high school graduation, while providing a continuing scholarship fund through high school graduation. Proceeds in the student’s account should provide a major portion of the cost of an education through attending and earning certification from a two-year technical college.
THE FOUNDATION
Organized as a 501(c)3 and privately funded at a level that assumes the initial group of selected “Student Partners” will be fully funded within the parameters of the initial “proof of concept” period. That period is defined as the participants anticipated high school graduation. All Foundation administrative, Trustee, and mentor functions are currently pro bono and otherwise voluntary.
THE FUTURE
Historically, the U.S. education system has been quite credible. Today, new challenges have produced results that place our country’s public school systems performance rank far below in comparison to other nations. It seems that however much money, programs, technology, personnel, has been allocated and expended by multitudes of school districts, plus state and federal government, we still experience declining ranks among most of the world’s major countries. Some of our larger cities have failing schools where graduates can neither read nor write at grade level. Students are not prepared to learn productive and needed skills to be successful in today’s world. Even traditional four-year colleges are experiencing a reduction of several million attendees in the current year. (Of course, these four-year institutions will likely continue to raise tuition rates to attempt to recover their revenue shortfall, which ultimately shifts an increased student debt obligation to graduates). Everywhere there seem to be signs, “we are hiring”, but these four-year schools are graduating diminishing numbers of students with the skills most needed by potential employers.
A major aspect of any solution to this major education/skills mismatch lays in the rapid growth of two-year technical colleges. These schools teach trades in current demand, including IT, health care, carpentry, electrical, construction, accounting, to identify just a few. Some institutions offer 50 or more trade-related courses of study. Most have available scholarship funding relieving graduates of substantial student debt. Careers are plentiful for trade school graduates! The Foundation will partner with any two-year trade college to encourage enrollment of the Foundation’s Student Partners.
These are major problems facing us in our economic future, the mismatch of employment needs and the skills of the current graduates. One significant segment of our student population which has not been well served by our educational system are those young teens, whose families may reside in a low socio/economic areas, and/or have minimal family structure or support. The student may also be obligated to attend an underperforming public school. In addition to the typical pressures within that age group, many could feel little positive expectations for their future. The Foundation’strustees and community partners are focused on identifying those young teens and provide them with specific funding for an education that will provide a “hand up, and not a life of hand-outs”.
THE FOCUS
The uniqueness of this organization embodies a total focus on a particularly needful group within every community, the young teens, middle school aged between 12 and 14 years of age. Any of us beyond that age would surely agree that these are tumultuous times in most of our lives. At this point in a young teen’s life, they can be both adult and child in many respects…physically, mentally, and emotionally. As difficult as it was for many of us as we experienced that time in our lives, it is much more difficult in today’s world. In just the past few years our lives have changed, not only due to world events, but mostly due to the internet and social media, which has influenced and impacted most segments of all our lives. And what young teen do you know who does not have a cell phone? And how does access to so many conflicting influences on the multitude of websites affect and further complicate the turmoil experienced particularly in those early teen years? One must recognize how some of those web sites offer, and influence young teens to make decisions, take actions, emulate bad behavior, etc. Additionally, in those early teen years, many of those young teens might wonder, “Why do I have to go to school? What good is algebra going to do for me? Why do I have to take a literature course? What are language arts?” How many young teens have contemplated what the future for them might be. (For many young teens the definition for “future” is the following Friday). The Foundation’s goal is to extend and expand the Foundation’s Student Partners’ view of their future in positive terms, a real opportunity for them, and provide a contact person/lifeline to “reach out to” as needed. This program is not to be construed as a remedial program for past questionable conduct, decisions, and activities. This scholarship is to provide opportunities and funding for the participating young teens future.
THE PROCESS
The Foundation(F3) represents a new concept which provides opportunities and incentives to those selected young teens, and their parents/guardians. This includes those that are incented to identify a trade of their choice, complete the curriculum while receiving financial support from the Foundation. The F3 program is unique at identifying candidates in their early teens already imagining enhanced career and increased earning potential.
NOMINATION
Candidates may be identified and nominated to the Foundation (F3) program by school administrators, clergy, community leaders, law officers or any other recognized community leader.
EVALUATION
If the young person nominated meets the basic criteria for consideration, a Trustee, or his/her appointee, will conduct a personal interview with both the Student Partner candidate and the parents/guardian of the nominee. Given a positive evaluation the nominee will be referred to the F3 Board of Trustees which represents the final selection committee.
SELECTION
Once selection of the nominee has been determined, he/she will immediately be enrolled as a Student Partner in the Foundation. He/she will also be assigned a contact person/mentor. Since the availability of openings is limited, a wait list will be created in anticipation of future openings in the program. Participating Student Partners, and those “wait listed” will be expected/welcomed and encouraged to participate in program activities such as, group meetings, campus tours in conjunction with the local Technical College. The Foundation will also be active in aiding to find apprenticeships in various trades to gain more exposure and interning opportunities for the Student Partners.
THE PROGRAM
Benefits:
Selected candidates (Student Partners) will receive the following benefits and rewards:
Example: If a Program Partner is accepted into the program at 13 years old/start of 8th grade/August, the FBO (For Benefit Of) bank account would be opened. Acceptance in the program may start any time during the year.
Candidates:
To be considered for the Future Focus Foundation (F3) program a student must:
FUTURE FOCUS FOUNDATION
Organized as a 501(c)3 and privately funded at a level that assumes the initial group of selected “Student Partners” will be fully funded within the parameters of the initial “proof of concept” period. That period is defined as the participants anticipated high school graduation. All Foundation administrative, Trustee, and mentor functions are currently pro bono and otherwise voluntary.
The Future Focus Foundation (F3) provides a uniquely new approach to enable young people to navigate through today’s complex world with its many choices of opportunities both positive and negative. Given their exposure to community environments, social media, etc., there are many programs available to young students which typically address spare time, after school activities, etc. This program is designed to expose and encourage young teenagers to begin their focus to their future at a much earlier age.
THE FUTURE FOCUS FOUNDATION— UNIQUE NEW PATHWAYS TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE
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