Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Workforce topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tennessee Achieves updates Bradley County commissioners on mentoring, emergency grants and mentor recruitment
Summary
A Tennessee Achieves representative told commissioners the program supports postsecondary students, serves 74 counties and offers coaching and $1,000 emergency grants; the group is recruiting mentors with a Nov. 14 deadline.
A Tennessee Achieves representative briefed Bradley County commissioners on Sept. 8 about the nonprofit’s Tennessee Promise support services, coaching model, emergency grants and mentor recruitment.
Baylor Adkins, representing Tennessee Achieves, said the program supports students pursuing postsecondary credentials and that 84.7% of Tennessee Promise scholarship recipients continue to live and work in Tennessee after graduation. She said Tennessee Achieves serves 74 counties and more than 400 high schools and that 93% of Tennessee high-school seniors and Tennessee Promise applicants are served through its network.
Adkins described the program’s “Complete” coaching model: 35 Complete coaches are assigned cohorts of about 400 students each and maintain contact by campus visits, calls and texts to identify barriers and create action plans. She said each student assigned to a Complete coach in Bradley County is eligible for a $1,000 emergency grant from Tennessee Achieves to cover barriers such as transportation, groceries and supplies.
Adkins said Tennessee Achieves has distributed “almost $7,000,000 across the state” and stated that some portion of that funding was distributed in Bradley County (the transcript phrases the local share as “a 140,” which was not fully specified in the record). She said Bradley County currently has 430 students served by Tennessee Achieves and highlighted workforce-focused activities including job-shadowing events and an expanded workforce-mentorship program for students in their second year of college.
Adkins said Tennessee Achieves runs volunteer mentor programs and that every Tennessee Promise recipient must be assigned a mentor; she asked for local help recruiting mentors and noted a registration deadline of Nov. 14 for new mentors. She left pamphlets and a registration link with the mayor.
Commissioners praised the program and discussed the local origins of the statewide effort: Mayor Davis and Commissioner Blake said the model began as a local initiative in Knox/Bradley County before expanding statewide. Commissioners were invited to contact the mayor’s office or Tennessee Achieves for volunteer information.
