Mentorship proposal:
Kelle Greenleaf and I are currently working on a grant proposal which aims to gain around $37,000 from the South Florida Water Management District and $20,000 from the Florida Department of Education for a mentorship project with LaBelle High School. The 'International Mentorship Proposal' is aimed to be a highly effective project that will address many of the issues and problems Hendry County faces today. These include high unemployment, high poverty levels, high birth rates, a limited visualization of employment and economic prospects and general economic deprivation. Hendry County's demographic profile also suggests that the groups which suffer the most are the young and minorities. and this is what the IMP aims to address. For some comparisons with the rest of South Florida see the table I have assembled. The DOE proposal (PDF) was submitted for the 10 September deadline. It is hoped the SFWMD proposal will follow shortly afterwards.
Some details of the IMP:
The
objective of the International Mentorship Proposal (IMP) is to implement an
educational and multicultural mentorship program between Hendry County high
school students and highly qualified international university interns who are in
LaBelle working on projects tangentially related to the Comprehensive Everglades
Restoration Plan (CERP). This initiative will complement existing academic
programs within school curricula, by providing the participating high school
students with direct workplace experience in collaboration with engineers and
scientists working on issues of direct relevance to the local economy and
environment.
The
program will involve Hendry County Schools and Southern DataStream, Inc., a
local agricultural engineering and water resources research company. Together
they will coordinate a project where 15-30 high school students will voluntarily
participate in a mentorship program with international university interns at
Southern DataStream for six to twelve hours a week. The interns will interact
with LHS students as “mentors” each academic term for a period of 18 weeks,
during which they will experience relevant practices in engineering, technology
and business. Over the time period the student will assist the international
interns in their individual technical projects, providing the student with an
alternative skills base, and complementing and enriching their school curriculum
in technology, the sciences, research and agriculture. Additionally students
will increase their ability to visualize future career options, gain preparation
for global competition, and leave with an enhanced awareness of the wider world.
It is intended therefore that participating high school students will do so
through a two-way working relationship with the international interns, where the
student will interrelate with, rather than simply be tutored by, international
interns. By using this structure, the IMP aims to be a mutually productive and
rewarding experience.
Hendry
County high schools, through their science, technical and agricultural teachers
will assist with the identification of potential student participants from all
backgrounds, and especially those who have the potential to gain the most
overall from the IMP. This will include the encouragement of highly able but
economically disadvantaged students and students from minority groups, students
who potentially would benefit most from the program, addressing many of the aims
of the CERP’s Public Outreach Management Plan and the Socio-Economic &
Environmental Justice Program Management Plan. Hendry County high schools will
also provide the educational requirements and suitable integration with the
educational curriculum. Southern DataStream will provide the setting, equipment,
skills base, and technical programs. Also cooperating will be Intelligentsia
International, Inc., and non-profit exchange organization that sponsors the
visiting international university student intern-mentors and intellitemps, Inc.
that recruits and manages logistics for the intern mentors. Required funding for
the project is approximately $57,530 in year 1 and $57,530 in year 2.