Spring 2006

	PFF Newsletter: Spotlight on Year-Round Programming www.partnershipforthefuture.org Spring 2006

	Welcome to our inaugural newsletter! We wanted to send this newsletter out to our supporters to let you know that PFF does not stop once the busy summer is over. We are right in the middle of our year-round programming, providing curriculum and mentoring to the nearly 120 students in our program, and gearing up for the selection of a new class of sophomores. In addition, there have been some staff changes and additions! Holly Gordon, a current Program Coordinator, moves into a full time position as the Events and Practices Coordinator--planning events and creating and maintaining best practices and processes for PFF. We have hired 2 new Program Coordinators, Serena Walkin and LaToya Harvey. We also have a new Finance Coordinator, Karen Drinkwater. Continue reading below for details on what we've been up to this school year and check out the other areas of our website for more updates!



	Student Spotlight Josh L is a senior at Highland Springs High School. He is class president and in the Model UN. Here he displays the t-shirt he made at the January THINK session. He has been accepted so far to the following schools: North Carolina A&T, Winston-Salem State University, South Carolina University, Virginia Union University, Paine College, Tuskegee University, Kentucky State University, and Hampden-Sydney College



	After School Sessions After School Sessions are held once a month at each of the participating schools focusing on personal development skills necessary for high school and college. Here are a few topics that students covered: Study Skills: The SQ3R Method Some of our students claim to never study and we wanted to educate them that in college, the workload will be much greater and they'll need to study more outside of class than they spend in it. Here's a method we gave them to help achieve this: Survey: gather the information necessary to focus and formulate goals. Question: help your mind engage and concentrate Read: fill in the information around the mental structures you've been building Recite: retrain your mind to concentrate and learn as it reads Review: refine your mental organization and begin building memory * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Time Management: Getting Started To help students manage their assignments and learn how to plan for larger, college level work, we provided this assignment calculator. Click on the link above. Choose your subject. Put in today's date. Then put in the date the assignment is due. Click and voila: all the interim pieces, including what you have to do each week to get it done on time are laid out for you. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Stress Management Take a quiz that we gave our students to help them rate their stress levels. Rate yourself as to how you typically react in each of the situations listed below. 4 = Always 3 = Frequently 2 = Sometimes 1 = Never 1. Do you try to do as much as possible in the least amount of time? 2. Do you become impatient with delays or interruptions? 3. Do you always have to win at games to enjoy yourself? 4. Do you find yourself speeding up the car to beat the red light? 5. Are you unlikely to ask for or indicate you need help with a problem? 6. Do you constantly seek the respect and admiration of others? 7. Are you overly critical of the way others do their work? 8. Do you have the habit of looking at your watch or clock often? 9. Do you constantly strive to better your position and achievements? 10. Do you spread yourself "too thin" in terms of your time? 11. Do you have the habit of doing more than one thing at a time? 12. Do you frequently get angry or irritable? 13. Do you have little time for hobbies or time by yourself? 14. Do you have a tendency to talk quickly or hasten conversations? 15. Do you consider yourself hard-driving? 16. Do your friends or relatives consider you hard-driving? 17. Do you have a tendency to get involved in multiple projects? 18. Do you have a lot of deadlines in your work? 19. Do you feel vaguely guilty if you relax and do nothing during leisure time? 20. Do you take on too many responsibilities? -If your score is between 20 and 30, chances are you are non-productive or your life lacks stimulation. -A score between 31 and 50 designates a good balance in your ability to handle and control stress. -If you tallied up a score ranging between 51 and 60, your stress level is marginally high and you are bordering on being excessively tense. -If your total number of points exceeds 60, you may be a candidate for heart disease. Many of our overachieving students knew that they were operating under high levels of stress, and we discussed positive ways to relieve stress, as well as the new stressors they'll face at college.				Senior April W. from John Marshall *THINK Sessions* THINK Sessions are once a month and focus on critical thinking or other special topics that the whole program can benefit from. THINK sessions include students from all levels and schools. Here are a few highlights from past sessions: September: Group discussion about Hurricane Katrina and the race issues that came up as a result. October: Students used tape, newspaper, and their creativity to build the longest structures that would hold the most weight in Hershey bars. November: Our students impressed our business and college sponsors with their "30 second commercials." Students can use these to sell themselves to someone at a job fair, on a college application, or with the CEO in the elevator. "It was cool because I'd never done anything like that before." --Shalondrea, Open High School What a panelist had to say: "Everyone learned from the experience, not just what to say when you're on that elevator, but I also learned about what makes an impression on me when I'm on the other end of the conversation." -Isabelle Kinnard, Council for America's First Freedom January: Why are things trendy? What makes a trend enduring? What will still be around in the next generation? Students designed their own t-shirt designs based on what current trends they think will be lasting. February: Career Roundtable Session. Professionals from many different careers sit down to talk to students intimately about their educational and work backgrounds.



	*Are they saving?* VEST account update: Students have Virginia 529 savings accounts set up for them through the Virginia College Savings Plan. As of the end of 2005, here's what they've saved: Level 2, Class of 2007: $19,894.64 Level 3, Class of 2006: $38,940.58 At the end of the program, companies will match each individual student's account balance up to $3000.