By Julie Faryniarz
Financial literacy education is a priority of AVID SUCCESS, the newest and largest initiative of the Greenwich Alliance for Education. We are inviting our community to participate in this effort with Student Sponsorships – an exciting opportunity to make a difference for AVID students as they tackle the challenges of paying for college. Before getting into the “nuts and bolts” of Student Sponsorships I think it is important to share the building blocks of the Alliance’s work on behalf of AVID in Greenwich to provide context from which to launch this new fundraising program.
In 2008, the Alliance funded a grant request from Greenwich High School (GHS) administrators to implement AVID. Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), is an internationally recognized college-readiness system designed to close the achievement gap and promote equity and access in education.
The first year of AVID required two educators willing to take this leap, Missy Brown and Ken Alcorn, to attend extensive professional development training and design a building level plan, including how AVID could fit into the GHS schedule and exactly what the GHS AVID model would look like.
The following year, the program launched and our dedicated teachers and students began a new and exciting journey. At that time, the Alliance believed that if the students graduated from high school and got accepted into college we had accomplished our goal. In June 2013, the “Sweet Sixteen” was ready to graduate and 100% of the class was accepted to college. We realized that the true goals of these students extended even farther into the future, culminating in graduating from college. So we added a Mentoring Program and a Scholarship Fund to our menu of AVID student supports.
We have awarded over $511K in scholarships to AVID students in college since that time, reducing the debt burden of these hardworking students. We are committed to raising funds (part of Student Sponsorships) to grow the pool of resources to meet more of their needs.
Our Mentoring Program has expanded and we recently added Ingrid Winn and Lisa Harkness as the SUCCESS Mentoring Coordinators, purchased new software to keep track of data, revised our mentor training, and added a coaching model for middle school students and 9th and 10th grade students.
While mentoring, Nancy Kail (SUCCESS Coordinator) noticed her mentee needed to gain knowledge and learn new skills around earning and saving money in order to pay for college. She began working with her mentee to get a job, create a budget, save money, and set personal money goals. Nancy now brings this financial literacy education to all GHS AVID students through a program she developed called Good Money Habits.
The need for AVID students to secure jobs both – to earn money and to gain valuable workplace experience is another piece in the financial literacy puzzle that surfaced via Good Money Habits. Cheryl Resnick, SUCCESS Jobs Coordinator, joined the team and arranges job panels, helps students set up accounts with Quad Jobs at GHS, manages our AVID SUCCESS JOBS Board where hourly jobs can be posted (consider posting a job), and maintains a robust jobs list of local organizations and companies looking to hire high school and college aged students. All of this information is shared via email with the AVID students and AVID alumni, and then is reinforced by the AVID teachers.
A highlight of 2020-2021 is our new partnership with Members Credit Union (MCU). MCU is a local community development financial institution with a commitment to excellent service and financial literacy. To empower AVID students to save for college, bank, and use other financial system services, a new product was developed for GHS AVID students called SUCCESS Educate and Prosper College Savings Accounts. Unique benefits of these accounts include:
A 25% Match from Greenwich Alliance supporters – up to $500 per $2,000 saved
A 2% interest rate
Sole ownership by the student
Financial literacy and banking experience and education
We recently heard from three GHS AVID graduating seniors who have saved $2000 in their accounts and earned the full $500 match from the Alliance. They described meeting the responsibility of earning and saving this money – and then being rewarded for this accomplishment – as impactful and incredibly motivating.
As you can see, we have methodically and purposely grown our AVID supports and program extensions over the last 13 years and renamed this integrated initiative AVID SUCCESS.
Financial literacy education, scholarships and Educate and Prosper College Savings Accounts are a big part of AVID SUCCESS and now we need our community to get involved with Student Sponsorships.
Student Sponsorships create an opportunity for donors to provide GHS AVID students with:
● $500 matches for their Educate & Prosper College Savings Accounts
● $2,000 in college scholarships and
● Other supports such as mentoring and professional skills building
The Sponsorship base level involves a $2500 ($500 match plus $2000 scholarship) sponsorship of one student. Sponsorships grow incrementally based on the total number of AVID students a donor wishes to support. For example, a $25,000 Student Sponsorship provides $5000 in match and $20000 in scholarship for 10 AVID students.
AVID SUCCESS Sponsorships remove or reduce GHS AVID students’ college financial obstacles. They provide financial support and help students to financially help themselves. Sponsors enable AVID students to thrive in college and beyond!
Reach out to me julie@greenwichalliance.org if you want to donate and/or learn more about AVID SUCCESS Student Sponsorships. Helping the Alliance empower AVID students in their financial futures will change lives.
Thanks to our donors who are supporting AVID SUCCESS and to the following foundations: Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, the Per and Astrid Heidenreich Foundation, First County Bank Foundation, the Ruth Brown Foundation, Redmond Mills Family Foundation.
Julie Faryniarz is the Executive Director of the Greenwich Alliance for Education. She is married for nearly 31 years and raised 3 children who all graduated from the Greenwich Public Schools. Her favorite past time is walking her dog, Baker, with her friends.
