AT&T announced a $5,000 contribution to Turner Community Connection (TCC).
The contribution is targeted to specifically help students by providing job training and placement services with local businesses where students can gain real-world experience and save money for their education.
“We’re thrilled to be able to help such a worthy organization as Turner Community Connection, which helps prepare students to enter the workforce and encourages them to further their education,” said Steve Hahn, President of AT&T Kansas. “As a company, AT&T is committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives because these investments not only strengthen communities, but our company as well.”
"Education is the key to our children's financial future and the economic growth of our state,” said state Sen. Pat Pettey. “Thanks to the support of AT&T, Turner Community Connection [TCC] will be able to help more students equip themselves with skills that will prepare them for the work world and help them appreciate the value of continuing their education through high school and beyond and what it will do for them in the future."
As an organization that works to create a better quality of life for the Turner area community, through community-based problem solving, neighborhood-oriented services and public/private cooperation, TCC has been aiding area youth by providing Summer Youth Employment and Excellence in Education programs.
TCC offers the Summer Youth Employment program to students in the Turner school ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old. AT&T’s $5,000 contribution will enable TCC to provide training and wages for an additional eight students. To date, TCC has trained and placed 38 students in the two years that the organization has offered this program.
As part of the program, participating students will get preparation in all steps of the job search process from submitting an application to interviewing and training before they are placed with a participating business in the community. Once students are placed at a business, they will gain real world experience in the workforce. Finally, after students complete their 82 hours of work, both the student and employer are asked to complete an evaluation form, which is used to improve the entire program.
“I’d like to thank Senator Pat Pettey for her tireless efforts to improve the lives of Turner residents and AT&T for its commitment to advance education efforts in our local communities,” said Barbara Kill, director of Turner Community Connection Inc. “By working together, we can remove obstacles from the paths of students and help them reach their full potential.”
AT&T’s support for the TCC Summer Youth Employment program is part of the company’s AT&T Aspire initiative, which is a commitment to help more students graduate from high school ready for college and careers.
Among the most significant corporate educational initiatives in the U.S., AT&T Aspire has already impacted more than one million students across all 50 states since the program launched in 2008.
With more than $100 million invested since 2008, AT&T Aspire has expanded its efforts with an additional quarter-billion dollar financial commitment planned over five years.
AT&T is building on its commitment to tackle high school success and college/career readiness for students at-risk of dropping out of high school through a much larger, "socially innovative" approach. Social innovation engages people and technology to bring different approaches, new solutions and added resources to challenging social problems.
As part of AT&T’s commitment to using social innovative approaches, AT&T has engaged local organizations like TCC, because the company recognizes that local organizations can play an important role in directly impacting students in their communities since they are on the front lines of education each and every day.
