Not every high school senior is busy filling out college applications. Most in low-income areas are not.
The Future Career Academy, which blossomed in Plant City seven years ago, guides hundreds of students each year in work preparation, job applications and connects them with good work right in their own communities.
The brainchild of Yvonne Fry, a long-time community activist in Plant City, the academy has grown from serving four high schools in her hometown to now serving three additional schools in South County and three high schools in East Tampa. Fry is founder and CEO of the academy.
“It’s about creating the symbiotic relationship between our business community, our community leaders and organizations like the Economic Development Council and Chambers of Commerce and the schools, themselves,” Fry said.
The program is embedded in English classes and teachers adapt assignments to teach students how to write a resume’, gain interviewing skills, dress for professional success, etc. The teachers also get videos to help get the message out – there are good jobs available right near home.
The academy also brings in professionals to conduct business panels, to introduce the students to local employers, to show them the vision. “We let them know they are a vital part of the success of our businesses,” Fry said. “We paint a picture of what that looks like and how they can prepare to tap in and access that success.”
Most students have no idea what companies operate near their communities, what those jobs entail or what they pay, she said. “Empowerment is a game changer on so many of these issues – affordable housing, transportation, domestic violence, hunger. If I can be a part of this upfront solution of changing their trajectory out of poverty and all that happens as a result of that, good golly, I’ve got to do it.”
The next business panels take place on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 in South County and East Tampa. Fry still needs volunteers to help with the events and more businesses to step up and get involved.
The work continues after the business panels with a Future Fair on April 22 for all communities and schools involved. That is when students get the opportunity to apply for jobs with local businesses, such as James Hardy Building Products in Plant City, which has a global reach and has some jobs starting at more than $40,000 annually.
“Our partners, we are always building,” Fry said. “What I need is the business community, people that have jobs to fill that would like to be part of this. We need people for field trips, locations that can accommodate 50 kids at a time on a bus. If you can hire, that is the appeal we have. If you are hiring, let us know.”
The academy can accommodate up to 50 companies. Some, like BayCare and the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel overlap in more than one served community.
“I want these kids to know they are tapping into the American dream,” Fry said. “No debt, getting a great job and the sky is the limit with these companies. It is so cool.”
Frye and her band of sponsors and volunteers want to do more. “There are so many other ways we want to build on this. We are completely triaging on the 12th grade, helping them design a career path that is far more meaningful earlier. Right now, every one of these kids, when we were in front of them on Monday, to see them go from leaning back in their chairs to being on the edge of their seats” as they listened to the business opportunities available to them. “It was exciting.”
The students are hungry for this type of training and opportunity and most don’t even realize it, Fry said. During the most recent business panel, 60 students signed up for an upcoming field trip that will take them to local businesses to see the opportunities up close. “We’re fired up,” she said.
For many, the classroom is not for them, so college is not even on the table. “But if we can loop it into real life, like training to be a forklift driver. How do we hook them into things that will propel them into a career path?” The academy helps them sort out what they need to do to get that job, what certification is required, etc.
Family members sometimes accompany the students to the job fairs and realize the jobs are good ones, Fry said. “We also do gorilla marketing in the community to get them there, like putting out yard signs and putting up posts at laundromats and auto shops where people are coming for DIY auto repairs. We are looking for places where people are under-employed or unemployed, like community clinics where people want to get out of the situation they are in.”
To learn more about Future Career Academy or becoming a sponsor, contact Yvonne Fry at yfry@workforcedevelopmentpartners.com or 813-478-0494.
