The Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team at UNC Charlotte has partnered with James Martin Middle School to instruct 400 seventh-grade students on character education, success skills, and goal setting.
The project, led by senior Gerald Burgess, will bring more than 40 UNC Charlotte students to James Martin Middle School each week to mentor and lead workshops. The curriculum is based on the book Success for Teens, published by The SUCCESS Foundation. The book teaches self-reliance based on the “Slight Edge” principle, which emphasizes making small positive decisions every day. The SUCCESS Foundation has supplied James Martin Middle School with over 400 books, which contain worksheets so students can record their thoughts and track their progress throughout the year.
“It is truly an honor to be able to help out students who might not otherwise be on the right track,” Burgess said. “I’ve seen the power of this program in the past, and I know that Success for Teens will make an impact on these students.”
The Success for Teens program was active at West Charlotte and Olympic High Schools last year, with SIFE members reaching more than 500 students. “We developed our program last year and gained a lot of experience on how to manage the program,” said Matt Murrow, who led the project in 2010-11. “Now that our pilot program is completed, we can start expanding into other schools and making more impactful impressions on students.”
Throughout the program, UNC Charlotte SIFE will be coordinating with James Martin Middle School volunteer coordinator Renee Meyrose to bring in motivational speakers. “We are trying to bring in speakers to motivate these students and show them different career possibilities,” Burgess said. “At this age, students often think that the only successful careers are professional athletes and rappers. We want to show them that you can be other things like an accountant, engineer, teacher, or firefighter.”
Last August, UNC Charlotte and TIAA-CREF announced a wide-reaching partnership with the Governor's Village schools in Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools. This strategic alliance created the platform to facilitate collaborations such as the one between SIFE and James Martin. Governor’s Village opened in 1996 and contains the John M. Morehead STEM Academy, Nathaniel Alexander Elementary, James Martin Middle, and Zebulon B. Vance High School.
“We are grateful that James Martin Middle School and the SUCCESS Foundation have allowed us to develop this partnership,” said UNC Charlotte SIFE President Brian Skerry. “We hope this is the beginning of a relationship that will have long-lasting impacts on the lives of youth.”
For more information on the Success for Teens program, contact the SIFE Vice President of Marketing, Matt Murrow. For additional information on the Success for Teens books, visit successfoundation.
About SIFE:
Students in Free Enterprise is an international non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills needed to become socially responsible business leaders. There are approximately 1,500 active SIFE teams in 40 different countries around the world. The UNC Charlotte SIFE team’s mission is to “leverage our business skills and entrepreneurial spirit to empower people in need to succeed." sife