The Akron Promise Speaker Series connects students with diverse professionals to show how education shapes future success. These talks inspire goals. Share your story - Contact tom@akronpromise.org.
How do you get students interested in their school work? How do you help them realize everything they learn is a building block to the next thing they’ll learn? How do you help students understand why they need to be in school in the first place? Akron Promise is trying to address these questions and inspire Garfield CLC students to keep learning, keep studying, and learn how to find good opportunities. The Akron Promise Speaker Series is one way Akron Promise is doing that.
The speakers are brought in to tell their story, and how their education played a part is where they are today. The series is available to all grades. Students self-select to attend during their lunch period. The program is in its second year and average attendance has been around 20 students per session. The students hear a presentation, can always ask questions, and they all get to meet the speaker. The hope is to tie their current high school journey to real world outcomes.
There have been a variety of speakers so far, telling stories of how they overcame various kinds of obstacles and adversity. These community members have landed in careers that include the medical field, law, professional organizations, entrepreneurship and more. Speakers have included Ricky Allen, Erica Glover, Shay Woods, Dr. Lathardus Goggins II, Mialon Morris, and Henry Johnson, Jr. Each of the speakers offers a diverse perspective, with the hope that students will see a glimmer of themselves somewhere along the way, and see new possibilities for their future.
Akron Promise is extremely proud to have interns, Noria Nuru and Kayla Suansing, coordinating this program. While they’re gaining event planning and networking experience, they’re also paying it forward, hoping to help and inspire others. Upcoming speakers include these interns, who have just graduated from college. They’ll discuss their experiences while in college, studying abroad, goal setting, communications, and what it’s like to be fresh out of college. An additional intern, a psychology major, will be talking about stress management. Akron Promise has been very lucky in obtaining high quality interns from the University of Akron’s ExL Center.
Perhaps you have a story you’d like to share with the Garfield students. How your journey has carried you to today might motivate a student to keep reaching for their goals. If you’re interested in sharing your own path, please contact tom@akronpromise.org.