Believing that the next generation is our hope for the future isn't a cliché to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.
"I really do believe that youth are important, that they will be the next leaders of our cities, and that it's our job to transfer our knowledge and enthusiasm to them," she said.
 Photos by LEITA COWART/Special | ||
| Eros Davis, a junior at Morehouse College and a 2005 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, benefited from Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin's program to help young people get into colleges and prepare for careers. He now serves on the program's advisory council.
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| Suzanne LaVoy (left) and Anne Dittman (standing), co-vice presidents of special events for the Atlanta Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, talk with Mayor's Youth Program participants Gabrielle Allmon (from left), Natalie Quiller and Naimah McMillan at the program's office in Atlanta. | ||
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Her Mayor's Youth Program puts muscle behind those beliefs.
While campaigning in 2001, Franklin heard questions about what she would do as mayor to improve public education. People were concerned about low test scores, high dropout rates and directionless high school students.
Those questions reminded Franklin of her work with mayors Andrew Young and Maynard Jackson. She remembered the success of Young's Dream Jamboree, a free college fair in the 1980s that brought Atlanta students and colleges together.
"I was looking for a way to engage students in a more personal way, while, at the same time, marrying the public's interest in education with my advocacy role as mayor," Franklin said.
She knew she could count on an upgraded Atlanta Workforce Development Agency, with its
40-year reputation for job training, to help jump-start her program.
So, in 2005, Franklin made every senior in the Atlanta Public Schools an offer. She told them that if they would stay out of trouble, show up and work with her team, and commit to being drug-free, she would help them find resources (counseling, internships or summer jobs) and develop practical plans for life after high school. She invited them to talk with her on certain Saturdays.
"It was open to everyone, because the city needs everyone — the No. 1 student in the class, the 198th student and everyone in between," Franklin said. She wanted to hear their dreams and help them transform their lives.
"She came to my high school, but no one listened. They thought she was running for re-election or something," said Eros Davis, a 2005 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School. "Only about 15 students took advantage of what she was offering."
The mention of scholarships and a computer caught Davis' attention. He had the grades to get into college, had decent SAT scores and had participated in football, basketball and track.
"I had always wanted to play Division I sports in college," Davis said. He'd been accepted to some top schools, but, after he was injured in high school, athletic scholarships weren't an option.
Davis had been accepted to Morehouse College and had earned the HOPE scholarship, but he couldn't afford the rest of tuition.
"The mayor helped me get some scholarship money and gave me my first laptop. It was the first working computer I'd ever had, and I'm still using it," Davis said.
Now a junior accounting major at Morehouse, Davis is on the dean's list, just won a calculus award and has an internship with J.P. Morgan on Wall Street this summer. He also serves on the advisory council for the mayor's program, because he wants to be a part of what she's accomplishing.
"Not everyone is an A student, but she makes everyone a part of it. I had a couple of friends who weren't even thinking about college. They thought there was no way, but they came to the meetings, and now they're in the top 10 percent of their class. She puts smarts into people," Davis said.
"If they show up and are willing to work, we take them where they are and encourage them in whatever they want to do," Franklin said. "I've never had a student yet say that he didn't want to do anything."
The program offers students help with SAT preparation, college applications and writing skills. It also helps students enroll in technical certification programs and in fire and police cadet programs.
In 2005, the program raised $1.9 million in corporate and community contributions to help 411 students attend 91 colleges and technical institutions. Atlanta companies, nonprofit organizations and government departments provided paid summer internships for 319 high school graduates. In 2006, 726 students enrolled at 130 colleges, and 570 participants received internships.
The annual report for 2007 hasn't been published yet, but organizers say the program is growing. According to the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, a partner in the program, about 1,000 high school graduates completed internships last summer.
Franklin sees the program as filling in the essentials: It helps pay for tuition, books, musical instruments, transportation to school and college fees.
"We do as much as we need to do to fill the gaps," Franklin said.
Get to work!
One of those gaps turned out to be preparing youths for their first work experience.
In 2007, the Atlanta Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management began teaching work-readiness workshops to program participants on certain Saturdays.
"We had been looking for a community service activity, and, since human resource professionals go into the field to help people, this was a perfect match of skills to needs," said Suzanne LaVoy, a marketing specialist. She and Anne Dittman are co-vice presidents of special events for SHRM-Atlanta.
"This project was right up our alley, because it allowed us to share our expertise and help prepare students for the real world of work," said Dittman, saleswoman for RRI Relocation Services.
The two women organized 100 volunteers, planned curricula and helped teach workshops in how to dress and interview for a job, communication skills, business ethics and budgeting.
"A volunteer would tell students that they should smile and look her squarely in the eye when they sat across her desk," Dittman said. "They'd look puzzled, but, when she explained that, as an HR professional, she might be the one to hire them, you could see the lights go on.
"This wasn't any adult telling them what to do. This was a decision-maker who could make a difference in whether they got hired."
Carolyn Coburn-Allen, volunteer recruiter at the Georgia Aquarium, is involved with hiring summer and part-time workers. She was impressed with the job applicants who had gone through the Mayor's Youth Program workshops.
"They were more polished than other young applicants. They seemed to know what they should do," Coburn-Allen said.
As a member of SHRM-Atlanta, she was inspired to join the effort and began teaching communication skills and ethics.
"It makes you feel really good when you can see that someone gets it. This program gives participants a head start on going out into the world," Coburn-Allen said.
For its support of the mayor's program, SHRM-Atlanta won a 2008 Associations Advance America Award of Excellence, which recognizes associations that improve the quality of life in the United States through innovative programs in education, training and service.
Hands-on learning
The Southern Co. is one of many corporations and organizations that offer internships to Mayor's Youth Program participants. The company has hired 18 students as interns each summer.
"Depending on their background, goals and interests, we place them in different departments with different managers," said Jenna Powell, campus recruiting leader for the Southern Co. "We get to provide a meaningful job experience to students who wouldn't know what it's like to work in corporate America, and we hope some of them will get excited about the utility industry."
Students gain exposure to potential career paths and gain valuable work experience.
"It's hard to know what you want to do unless you get some firsthand knowledge," Powell said.
The company enhances that knowledge through "lunch-and-learn" sessions about the working world. A professional-development day brings all interns together to learn about different aspects of the business, effective networking and time-management skills.
"Most of our students were going on to two- or four-year colleges. All were prepared and wanted to work. The feedback from our managers was very positive," Powell said.
Some students have come back to participate in the company's traditional co-operative program with college students.
"It's important for companies to have people who are able and willing to work. This is a very positive program for the city," Powell said.
An educated work force
Deborah Lum, executive director of the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency, which administers the program, agrees.
"The mayor has done a fabulous job, and we've touched so many students' lives," she said.
As the program grows, it's looking for more organizations to provide internships and is raising an endowment so it will continue after Franklin leaves office.
The community gains far more from having an educated and committed work force than any of the individual investments made, Franklin said, adding, "An inspired, creative and educated work force is essential to this city."