Today’s Black History Month Chronicles…
My confidence isn’t all the way back in reference to promoting people and programs, but y’all can trust me on the items listed below…
•Coach Carpenter, aka Coach Big (didn’t find out until midseason of our 2nd year that Big wasn’t his real name and didn’t know he could walk fast or talk loud until I watched him coach basketball), was Michai’s head JV football coach. The main thing I liked about him was he didn’t offer any pushback when I told him Michai had to be late or miss practice for educational purposes, i.e. tutoring, programs, meetings, etc. He discussed the Dual Enrollment Cybersecurity program last summer. He said he was going to remind me and some other parents when our children needed to apply. I forgot about it, mainly because I didn’t think he would remember and also because I relied on the guidance counselor to make me aware of opportunities available for Michai. Coach Big didn’t forget…he sent us the message this week and basically told us, “it’s time.” Keep in mind, football season is over and he doesn’t regularly interact with Michai, so he could have done what I saw coaches do to some of my classmates; move on to the next athlete who will help them win. When he sent me the link to vote for him in the School Hero initiative, I did so with a smile and encourage you to trust me and vote for him too.
•Dual Enrollment…look it up. Students can complete high school with a college diploma, certificate or Associate’s Degree depending upon their course selection and…IT’S FREE!!! Absolutely not throwing Michai’s counselor under the bus because we love her and she is going to help us through the application process, but I hear more about AP courses, Early and Middle College, and haven’t heard much about Dual Enrollment. These are college courses that will transfer and did you read what I said…FREE!
•Attended another Benefits Cliff simulation and it ’bout got real at our table because some think about budgets/need for services from their perspective, which leads them to believe that the people who use government assistance are lazy. That’s not how this works and some participants had to be taught that early this here morning. I encourage you to visit cliffeffectfc.com to learn more, and if you are an employer, I encourage you to go through the simulation to understand why it’s important to pay employees a living wage and also know how a couple dollars in wage increase can have a negative effect.
Vote for Coach Big, explore options for your high school student, understand the benefits cliff and vote for the right people in the 2020 election so they can help the cliff become a slope!
