By Jessie Ferguson | Program Coordinator
The second phase of the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP II) was launched in the fall of 2011 to provide additional individualized support to the graduates of the first phase of the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP I ). While ELP II provided support to students in grades 9-12 in its first two years, it became clear that the time that our students needed the most support from a caring adult was during their senior year of high school. High school seniors have to worry about college applications, scholarship applications, financial aid forms, and choosing a major on top of their normal school and homework responsibilities, not to mention extracurricular activities, community service hours, and after school jobs if they work.
With the addition of a second AmeriCorps ELP Facilitator to the Edu-Futuro team in the fall of 2013, we were able to re-format ELP II so that we can offer high school seniors easily accessible and reliable support from the moment they begin their college application process, through the last day of summer break if necessary in order to secure every bit of financial aid possible to make each students’ college dream a reality. AmeriCorps ELP Facilitators Kyle Huggins and Susan Rios serve full time in the Edu-Futuro office, so their students know when and where to go for support.
“It is truly rewarding to be able to help these high school students through this process. It is a valuable lesson they are learning; to balance school life, extracurricular activities, and college application process with strict deadlines,” Susan says. “Although many complained last month about how stressful and tedious it is to apply to college, they are being rewarded for their commitment and dedication with several letters of acceptance. I am looking forward to continuing this experience with them and incredibly excited to see what the future holds for them.”
“I love working with ELP II students because I get to help them tap into their own strengths. While we might have resources to offer them, I know that their best resource resides in their own potential because each of them is talented and brings a lot to the table,” Kyle shares. “That's what this program is all about: bringing out the best of each student so that they can create a better future for themselves.”
Upcoming Events
On Saturday, March 1 we will launch the Spring 2014 session of the Emerging Leaders Program: Part I with a special Kick-off event at George Mason University. We have an exciting session ahead of us including another college visit to Virginia Commonwealth University thanks to your support!
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