Just Suppose that a Group of People Who Care About Students Did Something Amazing

Would you want to know about it? Would you want to experience it? And after experiencing this, would you believe in it so much that you’d want to join the momentum and volunteer or duplicate this initiative for more students?

That’s exactly what I felt after touring The Immokalee Foundation’s Career Pathways Learning Lab: Empowering Students to Succeed “Open House” recently in Immokalee. I didn’t realize the scope of what they’ve created and the difference they have made in improving the lives of over 12,000 students and counting. 

The Immokalee Foundation was founded in 1991 with a focus on the education and professional development for children from kindergarten through post-secondary education. This initiative includes over 1,400 Immokalee students each year, which is why the total number of successful students keeps growing over the thirty-year period of their involvement.

Champions for Learning, The Education Foundation of Collier County, Take Stock in Children and The Immokalee Foundation are all committed to improve education in unique and various niches. Breaking the cycle of poverty for at-risk, academically identified students who also live in low-income situations is the goal of The Immokalee Foundation and they are doing this by providing resources, supportive literacy education, and training to help students learn about post-secondary careers that do not require a college education. Of course, there are Immokalee students who do pursue a college degree and are very successful, but one size doesn’t fit all.

How does it begin, you wonder? Make no mistake, there are elementary students in Naples that would benefit from the processes you will read about next.

The identification of elementary students that need additional support is conducted by their elementary schools in Immokalee. Those lowest-performing students are helped through an after-school literacy program with one-on-one tutoring, done by high school students under the supervision of certified classroom teachers. Tutoring is done in each of the five elementary schools in Immokalee, as well as a nonprofit after school program and a charter school.

Because the high school students also reside in Immokalee, they may know the younger students in the Immokalee Readers program, but regardless, the students relate to each other and both obtain a better command of English, since many are non-English speakers. Another advantage to this arrangement is that the high school students learn the qualities of working with younger students in a paying job, for some their first experience with holding a job. With the training, coaching and experience these high school students receive, and by participating in a Professionalism in the Workplace certification program held after school at Hodges University, they would be eligible for a paid internship with a child care facility or nonprofit organization during the summer between 11th and 12th grade and be on track for future employment.

The Immokalee Foundation took their goal seriously and spent two years developing a program to introduce Career Pathways in a sequential format that prepares students for professional careers. These professional careers can begin after completing high school, because they will have had the training and passed the requirements for those positions and begin to become financially independent.

As a result of the Immokalee Foundation’s research and analysis of professional careers that are in high demand in Southwest Florida, which are also well-paying jobs, they identified Business Management and Entrepreneurship, Education and Human Services, Engineering and Construction Management and Healthcare.

The Immokalee Foundation worked with industry experts and educators to develop the after school and summer programs in human services and education, because these services are also in high demand, pay family supporting wages and are projected to have high growth rates, as will public administration, social services and law enforcement.

By participating in these Career Pathways in grades nine through 12, each student is enabled to build a resume of marketable skills that will be of interest to both postsecondary admissions directors and future employers. After school and summer programs provide opportunities for hands-on activities, professional guest speakers, field trips and trainings including an overnight stay on campus at the EduCamp at Florida Gulf Coast University, so that knowledge and training continue during the summer.

Recently, The Immokalee Foundation offered an online Zoom session with three physicians from Physician’s Regional who were, of course, discussing health care issues. It was a “no school day” and there was expected to be low attendance. Imagine their surprise when 90 students were online that day for the session! That speaks volumes about their commitment.

The Career Pathways Learning Lab is unique in that it enables students to work with industry professionals and learn about land development, home construction, marketing and sales. The Foundation has partnered with Immokalee Technical College (iTECH), BCB Homes and Collier Enterprises to develop a high school curriculum to address the critical need for hands-on professional career experience. These students are in the process of building a new 18-home subdivision in Immokalee which serves as a hands-on professional career experience.

Can you imagine how a student leaving high school and desiring building trades experience would be able to obtain it free without this support from the Immokalee Foundation long before graduation?

You’ll see examples of the houses being built in this article, at which the students have performed under the supervision and experience of their expert mentors. They’ve learned how to install plumbing, electrical, sheetrock, trusses, appliances, doors and windows, flooring and more. All the students I spoke with were so proud of their accomplishments and it showed in their demeanor and pride in their workmanship.

To be continued in the next issue of the Coastal Breeze News with more information that will make your day!