School-to-Work Archives - Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay

May 13

Ocala Police Department Chief Balken Matched With Little Brother Michael in Marion County

By bbbs Bigs in Blue/Bigs with Badges, Match Stories, School-to-Work

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Marion County held our official launch last Saturday, May 6, 2022, and we are seeking volunteers in the community to mentor deserving kids here.

Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken recently began mentoring Michael through our organization’s Bigs in Blue/Bigs with Badges program and was the first member of the Ocala Police Department to be matched with a Little Brother.

Marion County has about 30 area youth that are waiting to be matched with a positive role model. Can you help fill that gap? As the recent Ocala Gazette article points out, a college degree is not required and you don’t have to be a community celebrity or high-ranking person. We’re seeking people that have some time to spend with a child and make a difference in their future by defending their potential. As our Marion County program coordinator shared, “We are looking to make a Big impact here in the lives of our families and the lives of our youth. The main thing I want the community to know is that we have kids waiting for a mentor. ” Marion County is part of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay, one of 267 agencies across the United States belonging to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America organization, which was founded in 1904.

Join an upcoming Virtual Big Orientation & Training (VBOT) and see how simple mentoring can be with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay. Click here to see the schedule or request a time that works for you.

Jul 15

Match Story: Justin & Alan

By bbbs Big Futures, Match Stories, School-to-Work

Little Justin and Big Alan met as a School-to-Work match at Nielsen in 2017, where Justin would visit his Big at his workplace to learn post-graduation and professional skills. Justin was interested in computers and technology, so he was a perfect fit to be matched at Nielsen because they use technology to gather information on audiences with media insights.

Alan was an excellent listener when Justin needed someone to talk to about his plans after high school and what was going on with his life. And Alan was excited to show Justin the ropes at his workplace. After graduating high school, Justin and Alan chose to enroll in Big Futures so that Big Brothers Big Sisters and Alan could continue to support Justin in his goal of attending college.

Justin was grateful to have Alan as a support system these past four years. Justin’s family fell on hard times and struggled both before and during the pandemic. Even when Justin had challenges enrolling into Hillsborough Community College (HCC) for a year, Alan was there for him throughout the process, and Justin was finally able to register!

Today Justin has completed his first year at HCC and made the Dean’s List studying Computer Science. He hopes he will get all As and Bs in his next semester and stay on the Dean’s List.

Defend the potential of youth in our community by supporting our one-to-one mentoring programs. Make a donation or volunteer as a mentor today!

Mar 22

School-to-Work Graduates Create Mentoring Program at USF

By bbbs In The News, School-to-Work

Two graduates of the School-to-Work mentoring program with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay have created their own mentoring program at the University of South Florida. “Bulls for Brighter Futures” provides underserved high school teens with resources to help them navigate their careers and lives through one-to-one mentoring with a college student.

Bulls for Brighter Futures

Chyanne School-to-Work Graduate Chyanne Eaton, double majoring in Biomedical Science and Spanish at USF, is Co-President and Founder of Bulls for Brighter Futures. Chyanne felt that her time in the School-to-Work program as a Little was invaluable. As a high school student who planned to attend college, the School-to-Work program provided Chyanne with essential life skills. For instance, she learned how to navigate the college admissions process, establish and use credit, and combat implicit bias. Having a Big gave her someone to go to for advice or reassurance.

Nidhi School-to-Work Graduate Nidhi Bangalore, double majoring in Biomedical Science and Psychology at USF, is the VP of Menteeship for Bulls for Brighter Futures. Connecting with her Big through the School-to-Work program helped her focus on her education while building interpersonal skills. She looks to her Big as a friend and teacher who truly has an impact on her life. She saw herself grow as a person during the two years she spent in the School-to-Work program. “Seeing how someone’s guidance and friendship can help another, I hoped to foster that same bond with the new mentors and mentees in our program,” Nidhi explained.

From Mentees to Mentors

Knowing how critical mentoring relationships were to their success, Chyanne and Nidhi saw an opportunity to provide mentorship to high school students looking for guidance. Chyanne said, “My Big helped me to feel more confident in myself and made me realize that I don’t have to have everything figured out right away. This relief is something that I want to provide for other high school students and has inspired my friends and me to create the mentorship organization Bulls for Brighter Futures.”

Although they faced challenges while building the program, they had support from their Bigs along the way. From mentee to mentor, their experiences with the School-to-Work program will forever guide them on their path to mentor more kids.

Learn more about how you can inspire the next generation of mentors through our School-to-Work program.

Aug 19

School-to-Work Celebration

By bbbs School-to-Work

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay hosted the 2020-2021 School-to-Work Virtual Celebration to show our appreciation for the incredible impact our workplace partners have on our Littles’ lives.

During the celebration, we recognized a few of our outstanding partners in our School-to-Work program. Mayor Jane Castor received the Outstanding Commitment to School-to-Work award. Janelle McGregor, Community Partnership Manager, spoke on behalf of Mayor Castor and the City of Tampa’s office to accept the award.

“We are very grateful to have an opportunity to reach students through this invaluable initiative,” said McGregor

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay presented the Outstanding Commitment to School-to-Work Mentoring Award to Carl Watts with the St. Petersburg Police Department, Kara Lecomte, and Will Miller with Nielsen, our longest School-to-Work partner.

Thank you to all of our School-to-Work partners and partner schools for igniting the power and promise of youth through one-to-one mentoring relationships.

Check out the School-to-Work Celebration presentation to learn more about School-to-Work

Apr 26

School-to-Work Littles Headed to Nationals for FBLA

By bbbs Match Events, School-to-Work

Littles at Middleton High School placed 4^th in the Florida state competition for their STEM fair

Littles in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay’s School-to-Work program from Middleton High School are heading to nationals for their Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) project.

Each year the FBLA must complete a community service project. Previously they lead service days at other local Tampa Bay agencies such as Metropolitan Ministries and Habitat for Humanity. This year, Middleton’s FBLA students chose to host a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fair in honor of Middleton’s STEM magnet program. Since some of the FBLA students participate in the School-to-Work program with BBBS Tampa Bay they chose to host the STEM fair for our matches in the Community-Based program.

“We wanted to share our knowledge and hopefully inspire others to join STEM, because of the amazing benefits it offers, and just hope to spark interest in general,” says Middleton student Nidhi.

The students coordinated each step of the planning for the STEM fair, from creating a flyer to planning the demonstrations. The STEM fair was hosted on February 2^nd and the nineteen BBBS Tampa Bay matches who attended extracted DNA from strawberries, learned about what’s inside a computer, and had the opportunity to control a robot built by Middleton students.

Middleton took their STEM fair project to the Florida state competition, where they placed fourth. Their next stop is the national competition in San Antonio, Texas, from June 29^th through July 2^nd!

Check out more photos from the STEM fair here.

May 03

We Celebrated the Graduating Class of 2018 with our School-to-Work Program

By bbbs Match Events, School-to-Work

Seniors with our School-to-Work mentoring program enjoyed graduation ceremonies as they leave Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay to pursue their futures.

This week, we celebrated the graduating class of 2018 with graduation ceremonies for the 45 Littles in our School-to-Work mentoring programs. The School-to-Work program is a three-way partnership between the local school districts, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay and our corporate and community partners to provide one-on-one mentoring in the workplace for high school juniors and seniors to help improve graduation rates. The students (Littles) visit the workplace of the employees (Bigs) one morning each month during the school year for about four hours. They spend the first hour learning post-graduation skills, then spend one-on-one time with their corporate Bigs through lunch before returning to school.

Littles from our school partners — Northeast High, Clearwater High, and Leto High — met with their Bigs at USAmeriBank, St. Pete-Clearwater Airport, and Nielsen for their final visits of the school year to celebrate their growth and success in our School-to-Work program. At each graduation ceremony, keynote speakers such as the Mayor of Oldsmar, Doug Bevis, and Pinellas County Administrator, Mark S. Woodard, were invited to talk to the Littles about their futures, inspiring the students with words of wisdom and well-wishes. At each graduation, two graduating seniors were awarded scholarships based on essays they had written about their futures and how the School-to-Work program has positively impacted their lives.

The graduations were full of joy and excitement as the Bigs & Littles looked back over the past two years in the School-to-Work program. The seniors who will be leaving the program were enthusiastic about their futures, many attending college and hoping to one day fulfill their career paths. Some of the seniors even hope to return to their School-to-Work sites to work after they finish school.

Best of luck to the graduating class of the 2018 School-to-Work program!

View the photo album for the Northeast High & USAmeriBank graduation ceremony here.

View the photo album for the Clearwater High & St.Pete-Clearwater Airport graduation ceremony here.

View the photo album for the Leto High & Nielsen graduation ceremony here.

School-to-Work