Guide to Greatness (G2G) is a citywide program that transcends the call of education. The curriculum emphasizes the development of self confidence, interpersonal skills and character building along with successful techniques to improve the quality of academic abilities. Through its workshops, students learn new methods of behavior and learning practices which will help the student to become more effective in school and life. These objectives will be met through active learning by group exercises, individual activities, information presented, role-playing, scenario discussions, and examples. The workshops will assist in integrating new ideas with existing knowledge. These new found skills will provide students with a new set of abilities that improves their chances of success. We believe G2G fills a void that is not currently being addressed within the State. By reaching students as young as 14, these skills can be used in high school as well as college.
Succeeding in the workforce in the 21st Century goes far beyond texting and Facebook, and Twitter. Although being tech savvy is important being able to offer and bring more to the table within a company or when beginning a “Start-up” these basic essentials will be an asset for any career path. The Atrisco Heritage Foundation has discovered a unique combination of workshops for students & adults to not only stay in high school, and to graduate, we also want to assist with Professional Development in the workforce for all ages to better succeed in the field. These workshops are as follows and can now be delivered.
Atrisco has developed its proprietary soft skills and college and career readiness curriculum, Guide to Greatness, as part of its mission to improve opportunities and outcomes for young people. It focuses on the areas where New Mexico’s youth & adults need the most work, such as self- confidence, interpersonal skills character building, and financial literacy, along with successful techniques to improve academic and professional mindset. The curriculum is divided into 100 modules: examples: 1) Soft Skills, 2) Financial Literacy, 3) Customer Service, and 4) Professional Etiquette. It is adaptable to a variety of formats and audiences and is offered through a series of workshops, which include active learning through group exercises, individual activities, presentations, role-playing, and scenario discussions, where we plan to have a more in depth conversation about more serious issues on the news, in the world and in their homes & communities. Guide to Greatness is appropriate for students as young as 14, and has been used by institutions such as The University of New Mexico, community centers, and local high schools. Targeted participants will be high school-aged to young adult (ages 16-35; they will be recruited through high schools, community centers, workforce centers, and other community partners. Strong candidates for participation will be youth at risk of dropping out of high school to find meaningful employment, including English Language Learners, immigrants, minority, and low-income populations.
Guide to Greatness has eight years of success and serves thousands of predominantly minority young people annually—through both direct program administration by Atrisco staff and licensing. We expect that 90% of participants will report increased understanding of soft skills, financial literacy, and navigating college and careers, based on pre- and post-surveys. We anticipate that 80% of participants will finish all four sessions. Of completers, 75% will be placed in an internship. We strive to adapt content to align with the needs of employers and educators to support building a job-ready workforce in central New Mexico and will regularly meet with employer and industry partners to ensure alignment between the Guide to Greatness curriculum and employers’ hiring needs. New Mexico, and especially Albuquerque prosperity depends on its young people having a fair chance to thrive and succeed. This will require opportunity for all who identify as people of color. But a disproportionate number of New Mexican youth of color experience failing schools, run-down neighborhoods, poor health, inadequate social support, and limited job opportunities. This is where we hope the partnership can align and both non-profits can be an encouraging support for all youth that have been pushed to the side lines.
