By Gretchen Roecker | Grants Manager
At Spark, we know that success takes more than mastering the three academic “Rs.” Students also need to develop the social and emotional skills that help people make responsible decisions, build relationships, recognize their personal strengths and challenges, and much more. Thanks to generous donors like you, middle school students in Spark’s four regions are learning those key skills and starting a journey toward long-term academic, personal, and professional success.
Los Angeles 7th grader Mary Jay expresses herself best through writing, a talent she is honing this fall through her Spark apprenticeship with Danielle, a proposal writer at Cornerstone OnDemand. With Danielle’s guidance, Mary Jay is exploring her personal strengths by developing characters and creating a storyboard in order to give shape to her ideas for a short story. In just a few weeks, Mary Jay will have a bound manuscript of her story, hands-on experience with the publishing process, and a sense of how one of her greatest passions could translate into a real career.
Up the coast from Mary Jay, 7th grader Kalin is working with Garrett, the CEO of Rockbot, a music mobile app start-up in Oakland, CA. In addition to learning how to build his own website, Kalin is exploring the various departments that make up a company, such as engineering, finance, and marketing. After interviewing different Rockbot employees, Kalin took note of the importance of collaboration in a company’s success: No single role at the company can stand alone, he observed, but together they form a powerful team.
Zavonie, a 7th grader in Chicago, is honing his negotiation skills with James, a lawyer at a local firm. At a recent apprenticeship visit, James led Zavonie in a role-playing exercise with Zavonie playing the part of a lead negotiator in booking a rock star at a concert venue. James was impressed by how quickly his apprentice “grasped the nuances of contract negotiations.” For Zavonie, the exercise helped him learn a valuable skill in an unusual and engaging way, and left him with a distinct impression: “Negotiating is fun!”
In Philadelphia, Amirah is learning about video, sound and photography with Lindsey, a journalist with WHYY, the local NPR affiliate. Learning about the tools and trade of journalism has given Amirah the opportunity to practice asking questions when she doesn’t understand something. Just a few weeks into her apprenticeship, Amirah has already had the chance to explore two exciting media-related careers: photojournalism and radio reporting. So far, she has learned to use a professional camera to capture photos and videos, met with a sound engineer at the Fresh Air studios, and even recorded her very own radio signoff: “This is Amirah Simmons for WHYY.”
With your generous support, Amirah, Zavonie, Kalin, and Mary Jay are learning to ask questions, negotiate, collaborate, identify their personal strengths and goals, and much more. Now that we’ve shared their stories, we’d love to hear yours! Go to our Facebook page to let us know: What life skills did you develop while you were in middle school that you still use today, and what skills do you wish you had learned?
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By Gretchen Roecker | Grants Manager
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