CENTER FOR THE FUTURE OF ARIZONA LAUNCHES CAREER PATHWAYS INTIATIVE, RECEIVES $250,000 STARTUP GRANT FROM HELIOS EDUCATION FOUNDATION
Plus
Center’s Parent Involvement Program Receives
$79,500 from Helios Education Foundation

PHOENIX (October 22, 2008) – The Center for the Future of Arizona has launched a major new initiative focused on increasing student success through system-wide changes in public education.

The Pathways to Postsecondary initiative will emphasize the creation of seamless pathways between high school and postsecondary education for all students, based on their interests and skills. “The goal of the pathways initiative is to improve Arizona’s high school graduation rate as well as postsecondary participation and success rates so students are better prepared for the 21st century workplace and can enjoy a better quality of life,” commented Dr. Sybil Francis, center executive director, who will lead the center’s Pathways to Postsecondary initiative.

Helios Education Foundation has committed to partner with the center in the pathways endeavor and is providing a $250,000 startup grant.

Helios Education Foundation also has announced it will continue its funding of the Parents as Partners program of the center’s Beat the Odds Institute, which is led by Dr. Marjorie Kaplan. The program is provided to Maricopa County schools participating in the Beat the Odds School Partners program. The $79,500 Helios grant will help increase parental involvement in schools with low-income, predominantly minority student populations by training school staff members to be parent liaisons.

“Helios Education Foundation is committed to creating opportunities for students to attend and succeed in postsecondary education, and our partnership with the Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) really builds on this philosophy,” said Foundation President and CEO Paul Luna. “By working with CFA on the Pathways to Postsecondary initiative, we are looking to create more avenues for students to be able to pursue postsecondary education based on their own interests, skills and academic attainment. At the same time, we recognize that before students can get to college, they have to successfully transition through middle school and high school. Our ongoing support of the Parents as Partners program at CFA speaks to our efforts to increase parent and community involvement when students need it most, during those challenging transition years.”