Community outreach program initiated at UA benefits area students
Students in Brad Maguth's class will be among the mentors for the new program.
Dr. Brad Maguth looked at his community and saw many students who could benefit from a guiding hand.
Motivated to make a difference, Maguth, acting director of the H.K. Barker Center for Economic Education at The University of Akron, applied for and won a $75,000 Community Connectors grant from the Ohio Department of Education.
This grant is part of the Ohio Community Connectors Statewide Initiative. It aims to give students access to role models who can help motivate and inspire them, as well as aid them in developing skills that lead to success in school and the workplace.
Brad Maguth
The award will allow Maguth, along with three other local partners, to launch a new mentoring program that will reach up to 100 10th graders at Barberton High School.
“While faculty in the College of Education have a rich and successful record of mentoring and working with Barberton students, there was a need to rally together other community partners interested in supporting the most academically vulnerable youth in Barberton,” Maguth said.
This proposal brings the College of Education, Barberton Local Schools, Raymond James Financial and Johnson United Method Church together as community partners.
The program will focus on connecting well-trained adult mentors with at-risk Barberton High School students.
Mentors, including some of Maguth's students, will be focused on promoting goal setting, goal attainment, character building, resilience and academic growth among the high school students. Leaders of each community organization will meet monthly to monitor both mentor and mentee progress, and provide incentives and rewards to those youth demonstrating growth.
“This is a huge step in meeting the needs of our areas most vulnerable and often invisible youth. It’s going to be hard work, but our community partners are committed to ensuring youth understand their worth and have a path towards success in life,” Maguth said of the program.
Story by Samantha Sipe
Media contact: Lisa Craig, 330-972-7429 or lmc91@uakron.edu.