By Elena Kunneke
If you ask people when was the pivotal point in their lives that they felt if someone had pointed them in the right direction, their lives might have turned out dramatically different, they might tell you High School. The Professional Opportunities Program for Students, Inc. (POPS) is a nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) organization set up to provide summer job opportunities to high school students in the Central Florida community. By 2008, POPS received a grant from the Department of Education to provide a year-round program that included mentorship, life skills workshops, community service and paid internships to 200 students in Orlando, Florida. By 2010, POPS expanded into six additional cities: Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Pahokee/Belle Glade, St. Petersburg, Bartow/ Lake Wales, and Ft. Lauderdale and grew to over 400 students.
The primary goal of the POPS program is to motivate diverse at-risk students to complete their high school education and prepare them for future success. Their secondary goal is to reduce some of the at-risk factors through mentoring, counseling, character education, money management, and workforce development training. In addition to the valuable training and work experience, each child learns how to set up a bank account so their checks can be direct deposited or they receive a bank debit card to get their weekly paycheck. Some form lifelong relationships with their employers and some land full time jobs as a result of the relationships formed.
CEO, Barbara Newton says, We are passionate about success at Professional Opportunities program for students, Inc. (POPS). Our work provides impactful, life changing results for any student fortunate enough to have a place in our program. Each student receives in depth training and the individual attention necessary to graduate high school, enter a post-secondary institution and successfully navigate their future. All the program services we provide and all of the relationships we foster, focus on one result; producing students capable
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