Chuck Licis-Masson, Program Coordinator for Take Stock in Children and the Executive Director of the Monroe County Education Foundation, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the program.
There have been 82 students accepted into Take Stock in Children.
Licis-Masson said, “It is a busy time, and it is difficult to believe where we are in the school year already. It’s amazing that the first quarter, the first grading period is coming to an end here tomorrow actually is the last day of the quarter, so students have two more days to get all their homework assignments in and make sure that those quarter grades are set for this year. We had about 140 students apply for Take Stock in Children during the month of August and September. My team with some of our board members, the Monroe County Education Foundation Board members, we reviewed those files, those applications, and we looked at the ones who were income eligible, because you have to meet income guidelines. So we looked at those applications that were income eligible, and out of those, we looked at the complete ones, and we ended up selecting 82 students coming into the program, which is good news for us, because we graduated 81 and we’re bringing in 82 so we’re pretty much at net zero, and we’re going to continue to grow, because we have more applications coming into the program for January. So we’ll look at those after, after this month. But looking at the enrollment, we grew by 22 students in Marathon. I believe we grew about 31 in the Upper Keys. We tend to be growing a little bit more up there. We have a population shift that I’ve seen, and we’re over 120 students enrolled in, Take Stock in Children grade 6 through 12 at our school sites in the Upper Keys, which is great news, but it means it’s a little bit more work for our coaches up there, and more commitment for volunteer mentors as well, which we’re very grateful for. Then the Lower Keys, we’re looking at 29 students coming into the program that’s Sugarloaf, Sigsbee school, HOB, the College of the Florida Keys Academy, the new school that is in, I think, they’re a third year now, and Somerset Island Prep, Basilica school as well as Key West High School, our main school, and we do have one student in Florida Virtual so that is an option that some of our students do choose. They will do a Florida Virtual School and earn their diploma virtually.”
The Take Stock in Children participants continue their education after high school.
Licis-Masson said, “They either go to higher education throughout the state, we focus primarily on state schools because the Monroe County Education Foundation, we fundraise each year in all areas of our county, Upper, Middle and Lower Keys. In fact, a couple of weekends ago, I was up in Key Largo for the Key Largo Rotary back country challenge, which is an amazing fishing tournament that is a good fundraiser for not only the Key Largo Rotary and scholarships, but also for Take Stock in Children. I think they had a full field of anglers. They were, I think maybe two anglers shy of a full field of anglers for the tournament, and they did very, very well. They contribute to the Take Stock in Children program. They contribute 25,000 which is matched by the state. So that turns into 50,000 to purchase additional Florida Prepaid scholarships for our students in the Upper Keys. That’s just one example of one of the Rotaries out of the eight Rotaries that support us. Our students will use those Florida Prepaid scholarships they earn at the end of the when they graduate high school and either enter a state college, and there are 28 of them in the state of Florida, or a state university, and there are 12 of those in the state of Florida, and enroll directly. Or we even have some students who go into the Career, Technical Education pathway and to learn how to be a diesel mechanic, for example, or a marine mechanic or an auto mechanic, a lineman. They go into nursing, they go into firefighting or into the police academy. So we have a variety of different pathways as well for our students, beyond the traditional, if you will, quote, unquote, higher education college route.”
There are 380 dedicated volunteer mentors in the program as well.
Licis-Masson said, “We are working actively to recruit volunteer mentors. I tell those in the community, it’s a fantastic to me. It’s an enjoyable way to spend one day a week for about 30 minutes in a school talking to either a youngster, a middle school student, or high school student for you to be able to get into on campus and get their perspective of what’s going on and how they’re doing. Most of our students are first generation college bound students, so they’re a little hesitant or they don’t quite understand the pathway to college and our coaches are on site. We have four coaches, college success coaches, to help them through that process, but the mentors, they meet with them one day a week for 30 minutes on school grounds during the school year, so it’s not a huge commitment, and you help that student learn self advocacy skills. We’re talking about grit, the growth and initiative and resiliency and tenacity and independency is another ‘I’ if you want. But how do we help our students develop grit and develop that self advocacy, those self advocacy skills for them to be successful in college, while they’re in high school, middle school and the mentor is a key person to help our students through that process.”
The success rate of the program is very high.
Licis-Masson said, “One hundred percent of our students graduate high school, so we contribute to the graduation rate for the school district, and we’re an A rated school, and I know superintendent Tierney, he has talked about our graduation rate overall as a district, and his goal is to improve our overall graduation rate, and we’re doing that in tandem with him, with Take Stock in Children. We have guaranteed our students are going to graduate high school, and we try to bring in as many eligible students as possible so they’re mentored, and they can do that. We’re focused on that. We’re focused on student success as well. And when they do enter college, we prepare them the best we can, and when they they’re in college for the first year, we still maintain contact with them. The mentor will still stay in touch with the student, because that’s a new experience. You leave an area of the Keys, one of the communities in our Keys and you go to Orlando, for example, and go to UCF that has 70,000 students on campus, it can be a little bit scary and nerve wracking for a student going from a smaller community and the island community to a huge metropolis like Orlando and a campus like UCS, University of Central Florida, but we do it the best we can, and 64% of our students who enroll In college, will graduate with a degree which is far and above the national average of the same demographic who do not have Take Stock in Children to help them. So our goal is to give them the tools to be successful, give them the support network, that safety net, if you will, while they’re in college, and to make sure that they are progressing, and give them as much support as possible so they are successful. I got an email from one of our graduates, a 2018 graduate, Anna Mott from Key West High School, and she was an amazing young lady. She was convinced she wanted to go into forensic science, and she loved NCIS and all those shows and thought that would be a great career. Well, she ended up going to college and getting her bachelor’s degree, and then got a master’s degree from a university in Belgium with a full ride, and she now has an international degree as well as a Florida degree. And she just took the time to write me an email to thank Take Stock in Children for the opportunity that she was able to do that and graduate debt free.”
There’s also support for residences and other living expenses in college.
Licis-Masson said, “We do provide dormitory plans. We started purchasing those about eight, nine years ago, and it helps our students with two years of housing, and whether they’re at a state university in the dormitory or if they are in one of three cities, Tallahassee, Gainesville or Fort Myers, we have a partnership with Southern Scholarship Foundation, which is their cooperative living houses by gender, and you have to maintain grades, and you have to be crime and drug free, no alcohol. And that is a very good option as well for our students. We have several students that apply for and are accepted to Southern Scholarship Foundation to live in one of those homes. And that is not a two year plan. That is a four year plan and beyond, in many cases, for the students. It’s very inexpensive, and it’s a great opportunity for our students. So we do have those housing options as well.”
Donations are always welcome.
Licis-Masson said, “If you’re willing to contribute, we can always use funds to purchase scholarships to help our students, but we also need mentors as well. We have contract signings at the end of this month, on the 27th we are here in Key West at HOB where we will have our new students sign their contracts and meet their new mentors and start that process. And then on Tuesday, we are in the Upper Keys at Key Largo school, in their cafeteria at 6:30pm and then on Wednesday, we are in Marathon, and we have the contract signing there. So we have in person contract signings to match the students with the mentors. They get to meet their mentor for the first time, we’ll have the superintendent of schools there and principals and administration and other supporters to congratulate our students. It’s one of the best times of the year. The contract signings and the graduation, those are the two best events that we have.”
For more information, click here: https://monroecountyedfound.com/about-take-stock