News: January 31, 2006

NEWS Update: January 31, 2006

New Minneapolis Career and College Initiative Launched
Ambitious Effort Aims to Help High School Students Graduate and Succeed
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Ameriprise Financial CEO Jim Cracchiolo today joined Achieve!Minneapolis and other education leaders to launch an ambitious public-private initiative. The Achieve! Career and College Initiative will provide Minneapolis public high school students with the skills, knowledge, and experience to achieve their post-secondary education and career goals. The Initiative will coordinate efforts inside and outside public schools to prepare students with the technology, counseling, information, mentoring and motivation to succeed.

“Preparing the next generation to succeed is one of our highest priorities,” Mayor Rybak said of the Initiative. “Too many of our Minneapolis students lack hope, purpose, and options. As Minnesota competes in an increasingly global economy, this state’s greatest asset is the children of the next generation of Minneapolis, who speak more than 80 languages, come from all over the world, and spend every day crossing cultural boundaries. By giving them the skills to compete we are helping to keep our region strong.”

The announcement was made at Roosevelt High School in south Minneapolis and featured Mayor Rybak; Jim Cracchiolo, CEO, Ameriprise Financial; Winston Wallin, Trustee, Wallin Foundation; John Stanoch, Chair, Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce; Craig Vana, Associate Superintendent for Career and Technical Education and Additional Education Programs, Minneapolis Public Schools; Catherine Jordan, President and CEO, Achieve!Minneapolis, and Andrew Joyner, Co-President, Roosevelt Student Council.

“We need to take action and address the increasingly dramatic decline in high school and college graduates in Minnesota.” said Ameriprise Financial CEO Jim Cracchiolo. “Minnesota’s economic future depends on our ability to increase high school graduation rates in Minneapolis. Employers need an educated workforce to keep our economy thriving.”

The cornerstone of the Initiative will be the creation of Achieve! Career and College Centers to be located in each of Minneapolis’ seven public high schools. “The Centers will be the hub of activity. Initiative staff and volunteers will connect with students to help them create a detailed plan for their future and provide the resource tools students need to implement their plans,” said Achieve!Minneapolis CEO Catherine Jordan.

Although the Achieve! Career and College Centers are a chief component of the Initiative, other aspects include providing all high school students, starting in 9th grade, with:

• Integration with high school curriculum so that every student has training on how to use career assessment and college search tools and resources;
• Motivational components (e.g. Girls in Action, Project Success, etc.) to unleash students’ interest, awareness and potential and encourage students to dream about their future;
• My Life Plan, an electronic planning process, to weave academic requirements with career interests;
• An e-folio (electronic portfolio) where students can keep their projects, resume, papers, videotapes, and other documents;
• Personalized support to navigate career and college planning from school counselors, volunteers, and non-profit organizations that provide tutoring, coaching, family support;
• Access to experiential learning: job shadows, internships, service learning and summer jobs for students to explore and experiment with career options; and
• Kevin Garnett 4XL Tech Centers with high-speed computers and the 4XL curriculum to assist students in connecting with national resources in the areas of their interest.

To accomplish this, Achieve!Minneapolis will need to raise $2.3 million each year to fund the Career and College Initiative. So far, $1,014,500 has been committed for this year’s effort. Mayor Rybak and the Minneapolis City Council have provided $122,500 of City funding, and Ameriprise Financial has pledged $250,000 per year for the next three years. The Wallin Foundation was the first private donor to support the initiative with a $100,000 contribution and the Star Tribune Foundation provided $40,000 of early research and planning support. The Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce has embraced the Initiative as a workforce development strategy and will mobilize its members to get behind the effort with significant financial support. Contributions specifically for North High School include a $60,000 grant from the Minneapolis Foundation for the Girls in Action Program and $42,000 from the Minnesota Intervention for College Attendance Program administered by the Office of Higher Education.

“The business community understands that we all have a responsibility and an interest in helping to prepare the next generation for the future,” Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce Chair, John Stanoch said. “Ensuring that our youth are ready to succeed requires involvement from the business community, parents, schools, government, all of us.”