Imagine if you could be whatever your imagination allows you to conceive. This year in partnership with the NavOps Program at the Gary Career Center and a group of fantastic students from Griffith School, participated in an exciting Saturday of activities including knot tying, chart reading, and a submarine mission that were executed in a creative way to enhance math and reading skills. Also, the students had an opportunity to explore firsthand the various occupations available to them. Members of the Coast Guard and Ivy Tech’s former U.S. Cadet Mark Lewers kept the pace brisk and on point. Ahoy Mates!

High School Athletes in Progress

Knowledge determines value in the job market. While many who are concerned about an athlete’s performance on the field, someone must be concerned about the athlete off the field.

O’Merrial Butchee asks of each athlete, “What is your plan B and how are you preparing yourself for after the game-playing years?”

We know that statistics for how many students actually make it to the professional leagues are not impressive and it is an act of selfishness not to prepare these students for the real world;, however, at the same time we do not want to through water on their dreams for athletic success.

This three-week intensive program offered applied business and life skills training. It also provided a clear message about what it means to be college ready. The athletes took inventory of their strengths and weaknesses and became engaged in activities that increased their knowledge of social and business life skills for success.

The objectives were to motivate the athletes to develop a personal improvement plan, understand their importance in the marketplace and assess their college potential. This was accomplished through training provided by accomplished experts in the following areas: (1). Financial Literacy Skills in the use of credit and debit cards, budgeting, and investing; (2). Business Etiquette, Protocol, and Dressing for Success, (3) Basic Principles and Use of math applications in wholesale, retail, markup and discounts, and (4) Technology Skills in Microsoft Word, Blackboard and Campus Connect that enables each student access to all of the tools available to any Ivy Tech Student such as its virtual library.

The program culminated in a Celebration Luncheon created and planned by the group. Master of Ceremony, DeMark Jenkins, a West Side High School senior, is an outstanding athlete, honor student and masterful communicator. We were entertained by Marquis Jenkins, a 6-foot football player, and violinist who is a member of the Emerson School of Performing Arts, and other West Side and Lew Wallace students who shared their excellent communication skills with the audience in sharing what impacted them the most during the three weeks.

Their coach, Jason Johnson, mentored and led them through the process. He felt that their exposure to Taltree Arboretum in Valparaiso and the Chicago Marketplace such as the Chicago Board of Trade and the Wholesale Districts were priceless.

The key elements and people to attribute the success of the program are the Legacy Foundation, Inc., the consistent focus of Chancellor J. Guadalupe Valtierra to make the next generation a priority and the support of Eugenia Sacopulos, grant developer.