Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Muhlenberg Achieves outlines career, college and middle-grade supports in district spotlight
Summary
Muhlenberg Achieves staff presented program activities including college tours, application assistance, FAFSA workshops, lunch-and-learn career sessions, a March 13 career fair and the Ignite middle-grades program that provides soft skills, career exploration and paid community work experiences.
Lisa Green, program manager for Muhlenberg Achieves, and Rachel Evitz, middle grades program manager for the Ignite program, presented an overview of year-to-date activities and upcoming events to the Muhlenberg County Board of Education in January 2025.
Green said Muhlenberg Achieves works “from cradle to career” to promote postsecondary success and provide resources, mentorship and support across the educational continuum. She told the board the program began in 2015 as a partnership between Muhlenberg County Schools and the Felix E. Martin Jr. Foundation and seeks to break down barriers to degrees and certifications and support the county's workforce pipeline.
Green reported program numbers for 2024: 157 of 233 seniors (67%) attended the Ready for Twelfth Grade event, six college tours were conducted in September and October (96 seniors attended the six college tours combined), five college-application events were offered and the program covered one application fee per senior attendee; 80 seniors (about 34% of the senior class) used that assistance. She said three FAFSA workshops have been held with two more planned, and she noted application fees have increased — in one example she cited fees up to $150. Green announced a career fair scheduled for March 13 and invited community partners to participate.
Evitz described Ignite, the county's focused middle-grades program that selects a smaller cohort of students who show potential and need additional support. Ignite’s three components are soft-skills development, career exploration and career training. Program activities include monthly full-day experiences at the local community college campus, sit-down restaurant lunches to practice social skills, visits to local businesses for industry exposure, job-shadow rotations in the spring and community service work events. Evitz said participants are paid $8 per hour into a program account for work events and job-shadowing rotations; the cohort collectively worked 143 hours last semester. She described middle-school events including an eighth-grade pathway tour with approximately 250 eighth graders participating and a Ready for Ninth Grade event attended by over 100 students and families.
Board members praised the outreach and asked about parent engagement; presenters said the program also connects families with local resources and pays travel costs for parents to attend some events. Green and Evitz emphasized the program's goal of helping students form local connections and understand career pathways available in Muhlenberg County.
Ending: The board received the presentation; no formal action was recorded on the item during the meeting.
