Educate Tomorrow

Miami Community Activist Virginia Emmons Selected as a National Finalist by the President's Commission for the White House Fellowship

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

MIAMI - Virginia Emmons, Co-Founder of the Miami-based non-profit organization Educate Tomorrow, was recently selected as a national finalist for the prestigious White House Fellows Class of 2012-2013. This year's National Finalists have already advanced through a highly competitive selection process. Selection as a Fellow is based on a record of remarkable professional achievement early in one's career, evidence of leadership potential, a proven commitment to public service, and demonstrated ability to contribute meaningfully at the highest levels of Federal Government.

"I am very pleased to have been selected as a national finalist for the White House Fellows Class of 2012-2013," said Emmons. "It is an honor to be recognized amongst such an accomplished and philanthropic group of individuals."

Finalists for the Fellowship are selected from across the country from varied professions including medicine, law, business, journalism, local government and the armed services. After Selection Weekend, the President's Commission will recommend 11-19 individuals to the President for appointment as White House Fellows. The 48^th Class of Fellows will serve a one-year term in the nation's most prestigious program for leadership and public service.

Those selected to be a Fellow will join an accomplished group of more than 600 alumni including former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, General Colin Powell, Governor Samuel Brownback, U.S. Representative Joe Barton, CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, writer Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Univision President Cesar Conde.

Virginia Emmons, 36, is the Chief Expansion Officer for Learning One to One Foundation (Miami, FL) where she is responsible for expanding the innovative model of individualized learning with technology into public schools. She co-founded and was CEO of Educate Tomorrow (Miami, FL) from 2003-2010, a non-profit that has assisted thousands of highly at-risk foster youth obtain higher education. She was awarded the Miami's Junior League's "Women Who Make A Difference Award" and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center "Everyday Freedom Hero Award." She was featured in the book "America's Way to Change" and was recognized at the White House by President Obama as developing one of twenty-five "Programs With Promise".

Virginia has also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa and has represented the Peace Corps as a spokesperson for White House events. Raised in Greendale, Wisconsin, she now resides in Miami Beach with her Husband Brett McNaught and their daughter. Virginia will graduate with a MSEd in Community & Social Change from the University of Miami in August 2012.

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About the White House Fellows Program

President Lyndon B. Johnson founded the White House Fellowship in 1964. It is an opportunity for exceptional women and men to spend one-year working in the offices of Cabinet Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, and other high level Executive Branch officials. Fellows also participate in an education program consisting of roundtable discussions with renowned leaders from the private and public sectors, travel domestically and abroad to study U.S. policy in action, and commit to community service activities throughout the year. Fellows are expected to repay the privilege of this experience by contributing to the country as leaders and public servants in their communities and professions. The White House Fellowship is non-partisan and has been supported by Presidents of both parties since its founding.

Contact: Kristine Bruner of Pristine PR at (954) 376-3683, or via e-mail at kristine@pristinepr.com.

Getting Some Fresh Air And Life Skills In Southern Miami

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Educate Tomorrow recently joined several Miami Dade foster youth and former foster youths at a retreat in southern Miami, to discuss some of the issues they face, to help them to make career plans, and to open up about their concerns. In between the workshops and discussions, they relaxed over barbecues, volleyball, and a fun dance session. A career panel of successful professionals shared their experiences and pitfalls, to provide everyone with some perspective on career paths. The experience provided the opportunity to take a respite from the hectic chaos of the city, and to share openly in a comfortable and safe environment. Stay tuned for more pictures from this event soon.

Educate Tomorrow at Buffalo Cove, NC

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:00:00 +0000

This August, Educate Tomorrow accompanied a number of Miami-Dade youth to Buffalo Cove Outdoor Education Center in North Carolina. This experience provides the youth and staff an opportunity to get to know another better, and affords everyone a chance to connect with Nature, away from the chaos of the big city, while coming to a deeper understanding of the values and perspectives that will have lifelong value. Part of Buffalo Cove's philosophy is as follows:

Buffalo Cove Programs are experiential by design, learning by doing. We get dirty, we get wet, we get scratches, we get frustrated, we get excited, and we gain so much understanding. We love our experiences, even though some are hard at times, because we realize the knowledge that they bring us.

RESPECT- Yourself, Others and the Natural World . At camp participants become part of a community where RESPECT is always emphasized. It is tied into every lesson and part of our daily life.

COMMUNITY is a major focus. Campers learn what it means to be a positive and responsible member of a community. For example, campers are responsible for chores like maintaining the camp garden, helping clean up after meals and helping maintain campgrounds. Everyone pitches in to make Buffalo Cove a healthy, supportive and safe space. By taking an active role in keeping camp a beautiful place, participants come to respect their home at camp and gain a sense of prideful ownership.

BCOEC maintains a low camper-to-staff ratio to ensure safety and maximum learning potential. Part of our philosophy is that each child deserves special attention and as a staff we are always interacting with campers at the ground level. We are all part of the same community.

Healthy minds are made through healthy living. This means eating well, physical activity and positive peer interactions. All of this is facilitated through daily camp life.

For more information about Buffalo Cove, visit Buffalocove.com

Former foster children from Miami help build a Habitat for Humanity home in Stuart

http://www.tcpalm.com/staff/nicole-rodriguez/ (Nicole Rodriguez ) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 07:00:00 +0000

From TCPalm.com http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/jul/16/former-foster-children-from-miami-help-build-a/

By Nicole Rodriguez

Friday, July 16, 2010

A group of former foster kids put their summer vacations on hold, trading in sunglasses and swimwear for hardhats and hammers to help Habitat for Humanity of Martin County build a home for a family in East Stuart.

The group of 11 made the two and a half hour trek from Miami Monday to the Treasure Coast, where they've been working every day since. Part of the Miami-based non-profit, Educate Tomorrow, the kids are teaming up with Habitat for Humanity to assist in the construction of an Earth-friendly green home.

"It's quite amazing to see them all working together," said Margot Graff, executive director of Habitat for Humanity's Martin County office. "After all they've been through, they still have the joy in their hearts to help others."

"They have a lot of compassion and love for others."

When the kids, aged 18 to 23, arrived at the site off Tarpon Avenue in Stuart earlier this week, all that awaited them was cinderblocks. The group quickly got to work, braving the sun, to build the roof by hand, without the help of any equipment or cranes. By Thursday morning, the roof was nearly completed.

"You're just in awe when you hear their stories and background and they still have a smile on their face," said Habitat for Humanity volunteer director Mary Jones. "After all of the struggles in their lives, they keep wanting to help others."

Educate Tomorrow, an organization dedicated to making education and a better way of life an attainable goal for the disadvantaged and kids leaving the foster care system, has been teaming up with Habitat for Humanity of Martin County for three years now.

Lovely Examar, 19, one of the kids on the weeklong trip, was glad to lend a helping hand to someone in need. Being bounced around from home to home her whole life, and separated from her seven siblings since the age of three, Examar knows how it is to need help.

"I've been in so many foster homes, I can't even say how many," she said. "I like helping people and one day, I want to work with children with mental disabilities."

Upon its completion, scheduled for sometime in November, the two-bedroom, one-bath, green house will be the new home for a family of two.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/jul/16/former-foster-children-from-miami-help-build-a/

Taking a Chance; Public Boarding School Reaps Great Success

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Fifth-grader Giavonna Turner sits anxiously with her family in a crowded school gymnasium. On stage at the front of the room numbered ping pong balls spin around in a metal bingo barrel.

A man in a grey suit calls out numbers one by one as the balls roll out. "16, 2, 22..." Loud cheers erupt after each number, families hug, and tears of joy are shed. Giavonna and her family wait for number 19.

This is not your average bingo night. These students are waiting, hoping to hear their number called in the lottery to be accepted to the SEED School in southeast Washington, D.C. One-hundred seventy applicants are taking a chance on a better education and the opportunity to go to college. Only 40 ultimately will get spots.

SEED is located among some of the worst public schools in the country. Only 33 percent of students in the neighboring wards graduate from high school.

At SEED, 91 percent of ninth graders go on to graduate and 97 percent of graduating seniors are accepted to four-year colleges.

Giavonna learned about SEED when school representatives came to speak at her elementary school.

"She came home and she was so excited. Everything was about SEED," her mother Janella said. "She called me at work and she said 'Mommy please.'"

What's their secret to success? Imagine a world with a level playing field, where children from disadvantaged communities have the same opportunities as their counterparts raised in well-to-do suburbs. That was the vision behind the creation of SEED, the first public boarding school in the country.

"There are 100 things that I took for granted growing up ... that a lot of kids that grow up in economically secure neighborhoods can take for granted," said Eric Adler, who co-founded the SEED Foundation in 1997. "We are providing our students the same opportunities that most of the kids in other neighborhoods just naturally have as an accident of birth."

Read the full story here

President Obama Proclaims May National Foster Care Month

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Every year May is National Foster Care Month, but it's not any other year for foster youth across the nation: three recent laws have significantly improved foster care in the U.S. In a proclamation released on April 28th, President Obama outlined the goals of the laws and recognized all the people involved in improving the lives of foster youth and former foster youth.

The first relevant act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has increased funding for the Title IV-E adoption and foster care assistance program. The program ensures foster youth entering foster care are staying in safe and stable environments. The second act, Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions, provides support to older youth by improving educational opportunities and stability. The third act, Patient Protection and Affordable Care, will ensure Medicaid coverage to former foster youth beginning in 2014. Collectively, we have recognized some of the deficits of the programs and safety nets designed for foster youth. Combined, the three acts promise to change the outcomes of those living in foster care.

Today, Educate Tomorrow recommits to help foster youth achieve their full potential. However, this can only be realized through you. You are our agents of change, you work to inspire youth day in and day out, you keep them focused on their goals, and it is you who provide them constant support. Thank you for your continuing dedication to our youth.

Read the proclamation at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-national-foster-care-month

Alhadj in the News

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:00:00 +0000

The Observer has written a story about our own Alahdj Amadou, director of our international program. Read the original article here http://observernews.com/index.php/news/general-news/1743-west-african-educator-visits-reston-schools, or below.

West African Educator Visits Reston Schools By Leslie Perales, Observer Editor

Last week Alhadj Amadou, an educator from Niger, West Africa, visited South Lakes High School and Langston Hughes Middle School to learn more about American Schools. Amadou is the director of a school called Kabey Fo, which was founded by a Peace Corps volunteer and her five sisters. The school is supported by Educate Tomorrow, an organization based in Miami that is operated by the sisters. While touring SLHS and LHMS Amadou learned about the programs offered to students.

Comparatively, his school has no electricity and his computer is run off solar panels. Instead of Smart Boards or whiteboards his school uses blackboards, and most students walk or use donkeys for travel. His students still enjoy putting together theater productions, playing sports during their free time and learning about students in other countries. While at SLHS Amadou visited the school's highest level French class to give a lecture in French, his native language. He told them about his school, students' daily lives and life in West Africa. During his tour of the school he learned about classes, arts, extracurricular activities and more. SLHS senior Yoan N'Komba provided translation during the tour.

After visiting SLHS Amadou provided a similar lecture to LHMS students. His school is located in PeaceCorps territory and isn't very close to any large villages so many of his students walk up to four miles to get to school every day. Students are between ages 7-12 years old but eventually the school will include high school age students as well, Amadou said. He told LHMS students the school has no air conditioning or fans and the heat can reach up to 120 degrees. He said while often there are not enough books there are volunteers and he has about 60 students who are eager to learn. Amadou said the literacy rate is about 20 percent. He said if students don't attend school they often stay home

to work and support their families. He said girls help with household chores, such as collecting water and kindling, and boys help with farming. The average school day is from 8 a.m. to noon and 3

to 6 p.m. Amadou said it is very difficult to teach and learn without materials and students in the United States are very lucky for the resources available. He said in West Africa they also often have

to teach the parents why an education is important. When students finish school they have the opportunity to go to university if they do well enough on a standardized test. Amadou said about 10 percent of students are able to make it to university. Similarly students must pass a test at the age of 12 to continue their education into their teen years, he said. Amadou said after visiting schools in America for the past few months he has been able to see how they can strengthen their curriculum. He said often the problem is that teachers do not have the ability to teach a strong enough curriculum. He said he also learned how his teachers can improve their relationships with students and use American

teaching techniques.

Alhadj's thoughts on his first visit to the US

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:00:00 +0000

What a beautiful Country, U.S.

My people, the Tuareg people of Niger, West Africa have a proverb that says: ''Travel is a University.'' I will describe the service during my stay in the country of ''Uncle Tom,'' the land of freedom commonly known as the United States of America (USA) from February 14 to April 12, 2010. As an African, I was impressed by three American values, which are: the organization of the system, hospitality, and respect for human rights as behavior.

The Organization:
From New York to Washington, the last city of my visit, via Philadelphia, Miami, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Chicago, Wisconsin, Boston, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to name the ones I traveled through. I was influenced by the cleanliness of roads, neighborhoods and public places. No polluting and littering the roads, cities and the bush. People perform their duty with pride. ''I told a friend, apparently it is more difficult to maintain a car than to buy it here.'' In the private services, and the public sector, and especially in the NGO's like Educate Tomorrow I knew well, the workers are very friendly and work in total harmony, with no sense of inferiority. The director is serving her administration and not the opposite. The people and the director represent the administration well.
The primary schools, secondary schools and universities were marked by the quality and flexibility of the American educational system. ''I have said in theory to the leaders and teachers at home in Africa, that the weakness of our education system is due to the fact that we give more credit to the construction of classrooms and to the purchase of textbooks than to training and building the capacity of teachers. Now I am even more convinced, and have the ultimate belief that when the teacher is well trained and dedicated, (s)he can do wonders even under a tree."

The Hospitality:
    Americans have a legendary hospitality. Several people have guests at home for dinner or for a tourist trip, either to watch a game, a championship, a concert or to sleep. This hospitality extends to the White House, where I could converse and take photos.
    Both children and parents are very friendly, and like to know what other African children like to do in life like sports, business, adventure and what they eat, etc. We do not choose our parents, our country, or our continent, you were lucky and must be aware of your good fortune, I told them.
    In all the families with which I stayed, I left with the feeling of being in my own family. The phrase which is ''we are honored to welcome you among us''

The Respect for Human Rights, Law and Behavior:
My seatmate on the plane before landing on American soil was saying, unlike in Africa the right of the man (father) comes after that of the child, woman and dog. This information has been confirmed to me by one of my friends with whom I spent several days. I do what my wife tells me to do, he said. The children enjoy full rights in the U.S., and when parents are not able to take care of their children, the State assumes its responsibilities. Outside of the right to quality education, the child has the right to quality food, sport and leisure unlike in Africa where those rights are a luxury. One of my friends told me that his dog maintenance costs him about $300 per month, on average 10 dollars a day; average people in Africa live on less than $1 per day. These rights are known, popularized and practiced.

The U.S. is rich by nature and knows how to save. People anticipate and make projections for the future. ''A friend also told me we had enough in the U.S. Gold Reserve in Fort Knox to refurbish all U.S. roads, but we do not touch it." The U.S. is the world's leading power from a material point of view of material, because their mentality takes on a global vision of the world. It is characterized by numerous humanitarian benefits to the poor in both the U.S. and around the globe.
The Americans are not what we see in films. I thank all the staff of Educate Tomorrow, the school of Tess Corners, the schools in Washington and my friends in Boston.

Some of my American favorites:
City: South Beach, Miami Beach
Dish: Kentucky Fried Chicken
Travel: From Miami to Milwaukee by Car
Sport: A Baseball game in Washington DC with the Washington Nationals, and the Miami Heat game versus the Memphis Grizzlies
Film: Avatar 3-D
Museum: Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World
Population: Everyone I met

Educate Tomorrow Published In a New Book "The American Way To Change"

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Educate Tomorrow has been published in a new book The American Way to Change, as 1 of the country's 25 "Models With Promise" that are transforming the nation through national service and volunteers. Click here to visit the book's official website: http://www.waytochange.com/high_impact_volunteer_and_national_service_programs.html

Community Professionals Enhance Classroom Learning

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Educate Tomorrow's Chief Operating Officer Erica French reaches out to young students through the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce Speakers Bureau.

Please Click Here to read the full article.