Chuck Licis-Masson, County 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.
Take Stock in Children is a mentorship program with a scholarship opportunity for students.
Licis-Masson said, “It’s a needs-based scholarship opportunity, so our students have to meet income eligibility requirements based from Florida Prepaid. It’s about 65% of AMI for HUD, so it’s between low and very low, a little bit higher than free reduced lunch. So if you think about free reduced lunch, a family of four probably is around $30,000. We’re up above that. We’re about $70,000 for a family of four, which is very helpful for our county, because before they were using a broad brushstroke of income guidelines for the entire state of Florida. We know the income levels and cost of living across the 67 counties vary dramatically. We’re one of the most expensive counties in which to live. So we were able to argue to have a higher income cap, which allows us to serve more needy students, and deserving students. They also have to have good grades and good attendance, good behavior, a minimum of a 2.0 grade point average, which is straight C’s across the board. When they come into the program, they have to promise to raise that up to a minimum of 2.5. So they’re excelling towards B’s and A’s, maintain those grades, attendance, behavior, crime and drug free and meet with a mentor, once a week, which is really the cornerstone and the bedrock of our program is that mentor session that they have every week with our volunteer mentors.”
There are 350 students in Take Stock in Children in Monroe County.
Licis-Masson said, “That means we have 350 mentors meeting with our students on a weekly basis, starting in September, all the way through this month. We’re winding down now because it’s graduation month. It’s a crazy May for us in the school system and probably a crazy May for parents as well because they’re scrambling, looking at the summer thinking, what am I going to do with my students over the summer? What kind of camps can I get them into?”
Take Stock in Children is going to graduate 64 students.
Licis-Masson said graduation is on “May 18 at Marathon High School at 11 o’clock in the morning, it’s a Saturday. That’s probably, for me, the most joyous event and occasion that we have and Take Stock in Children that is awarding them their scholarships, which is a two plus to Florida prepaid tuition scholarship covering tuition local fees, up to 120 credits at any state university or college and many of our students also have earned a two year dormitory plan from us as well from the Monroe County Education Foundation, which allows them two years or four semesters of housing on one of those university campuses, which is a real game changer for a lot of our students.”
There are a lot of success stories.
Licis-Masson said, “I see the postings on Facebook, many of the mentors are friends of mine on Facebook as well, I see their postings and they tag Take Stock in Children and the mentors, they are attending their mentee’s college graduations, they’re attending their weddings, if they’re getting married. They’re involved in their career choices. We have a mentor mentee pair up in Key Largo in the Upper Keys and they were together all the way through high school. The student graduated, went off to FIU, I believe, has a degree in marine biology and she’s working on the project at FIU, the underwater program that they have off the coast of Key Largo for scientists and astronauts to train. So she’s involved with that project and her mentor was so intrigued that she changed her career and now works for coral restoration. So we have a mentee influencing a mentor, which is phenomenal.”
The mentor gives about 30 minutes a week of their time.
Licis-Masson said, “Typically during a school lunch. We also make it very easy for our mentors. We have a lot of mentors who are seasonal residents. So they’re only down here from October through April. We have a Take Stock app. The Take Stock in Children program has created an app on your smartphone, whether it’s an Android or an Apple device, and you can FaceTime with your mentee and not miss a week and it’s recorded and it’s noted. It’s important for us because our mentors have to log those mentor sessions in order for us to receive the grant funding from Take Stock in Children through the state of Florida. That’s why it’s a mentorship program with a scholarship opportunity and we fundraise separately for those scholarships that are funding for the program itself is dependent on those mentor sessions.”
How do the teachers value Take Stock in Children?
Licis-Masson said, “They love the program. This is another partnership we have with Take Stock in the school district. So what’s unique about our program in Monroe County that’s unlike other programs in the state of Florida, we have a partnership with the school district, we our school district employees. So my coaches and myself, we’re embedded in the school district. We have direct contact with the faculty and the students. We have coaches working within the schools as opposed to being in an office and visiting schools. Our coaches are on campuses every day, accessible to students. The mentors also have accessibility to those coaches as well. The teachers when they look at their class rosters, there is a symbol next to our Take Stock students on their class rosters in the student information system, and they know who’s in Take Stock. We talk to the teachers. I meet with them at the beginning of the school year at faculty meetings and the coaches as well, explain the Take Stock program to the new teachers coming into the program, into the school district and explain that those students are held to a higher standard. We expect more from those students. They should be doing their homework on a regular basis, attending school, behaving in class and if there’s any infraction, they need to let us know so we can intervene and counsel and redirect to make sure that they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing. So they value us the coaches and Take Stock in Children because their Take Stock kids are focused on college and career. They have that goal ahead of them. So they work extra hard in their classes and we really appreciate our teachers. They have a tremendous job teaching our kids. I was a teacher about 20 plus years ago, and it was a vastly different landscape back then than it is today. I really respect our teachers and what they do for our students in our community. They are excellent partners with Take Stock.”
There are other service organizations that help Take Stock.
Licis-Masson said, “We rely heavily on our Rotary clubs. They’re the seven clubs throughout the county, they contribute greatly to our program. We have what’s called a Named Scholar Donor, which is a $25,000 gift for scholarships. If an organization or an individual gifts $25,000, we recreate this named scholar certificate, we select a top GPA earner from our graduating class and recognize that student as that named scholar. So we have two Upper Keys Rotary Named scholars, a Key Largo Rotary named scholar, two Marathon Rotary named scholars, a Sunrise Rotary Club named scholar, which is my club, a Key West rotary named scholar as well. Then we have also some grant funding we received from the Upper Keys and from the Ocean Reef community as well. So it’s a way for us to recognize and thank them for their contribution. For every dollar we receive, it’s matched by the state. So when Marathon Rotary hands over a $50,000 check, that’s $100,000 of scholarships that we can purchase for incoming students. I’m always looking ahead, I’m looking at my fifth graders, my fourth graders and my third graders and seeing who’s in the pipeline, who can we serve to make sure that when they’re in sixth grade, they’re ready to come into program, and they’re ready to be meeting with a mentor and excelling and having that opportunity to go to college or to pursue a career in a career technical educational field, thanks to the contributions from Rotaries and from our individuals and other organizations.”
How can people get started?
Licis-Masson said, “The best way is to either call our office and that’s 305-293-1546. That’s our direct line to our office, or visit our website at Monroe County Education Foundation. We oversee the scholarships, purchase the scholarships, do the fundraising and run the Take Stock children’s program for school district. So those are probably the two best ways to contact us.”
The graduation in Marathon will be a one-hour ceremony.
Licis-Masson said, “It’s an opportunity for people to see what we’re all about. Then the last week of May we have all of our high school graduations starting with Coral Shores, ending with Key West High School on Friday it’s the last Friday of the month before Memorial weekend. Prior to that, if anyone wants to really view and see and witness how much money our communities from Key Largo, Upper Keys, Middle Keys and Lower Keys give to our students for scholarships, the class nights also occur that week and, boy, they give out millions of dollars in each part of the community of the Florida Keys to help our students in college. So it’s absolutely phenomenal.”
For more information on Take Stock, click here: https://monroecountyedfound.com/about-take-stock