Hello all, I know there were some chip timing issues for some racers (I think possibly confined to bib 400+. Please let me know immediately at tom@akronpromise.org or 3303294855 of any issues. To help analyze the issue, anyone can send me their bib number on the front and their timing number on the back and I will be sure the data is accurate (I AM a data guy!)
I enjoyed all of you immensely today! More later….. Preliminary results…..
Tag: Migrate
A change for Tom Ghinder
Tom Ghinder was recently featured in an article in the Akron Beacon Journal. “Why aren’t people working? They’re looking for better jobs, seeking child care or retiring“. In this interview, he talks about how his life changed during Covid and coming out of retirement.
The excerpt that features Tom is below.
“How do you live a quality life? Good housing. Being able to understand the neighborhood and world around you… my mission right now is to figure out a way to bring a universal education support system to Akron.”
Tom Ghinder
‘Unretiring’
Tom Ghinder retired from his tech career in 2016.
At 60, the Akronite is back on contract for the same company where he worked before retiring.
While some retirees are being recruited to fill gaps in the ongoing labor shortage – CNN reported in December that about 2.6% are “unretiring” – Ghinder said he went back in large part to help Akron Promise, the education non-profit he founded with his wife, Daralee Ghinder.
“At the beginning of 2021, Akron Promise had grown enough we needed a
professional director instead of me, an entrepreneur,” Tom Ghinder said.
In April, Akron Promise hired Jeanne-Hélène Roy as executive director to fulfill its mission of helping students at Kenmore-Garfield high school succeed in trade programs or graduate from community college or university.
Eventually, Ghinder said he hopes Roy can expand the program to all Akron
children, preparing for each child for long-term success from the moment they’re born.
Ghinder said he returned to work last year in large part to help pay for Roy and what she can do for Akron Promise.
And in some ways, the pandemic made coming out of retirement easier.
Ghinder’s job analyzing data and systems for large corporations had always
required him to travel, often flying home on weekends just long enough to check inand then fly away again.
He didn’t like the travel, even though he always found the rest of his work
satisfying. “Now, I will always work from home,” he said.
That’s partly because of his niche experience, Ghinder said, but also because clients have grown accustomed to working remotely during the pandemic. Cutting travel also saves businesses money.
But there’s been a lot of other changes in the business world in the five years since he retired, he said.
Ghinder said he’s still learning to navigate cloud storage and when to use business messaging apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams versus email or direct messages.
For now, he’s glad to be back in tech and has no horizon for a second
retirement, especially because he’s working from home.
But even when he does retire again, he said he will never give up serving kids and education.
“How do you live a quality life?” Ghinder asked. “Good housing. Being able to
understand the neighborhood and world around you… my mission right now is to figure out a way to bring a universal education support system to Akron.”
Akron Promise Founder, Tom Ghinder, Op-ed. March 22, 2022, Akron Beacon Journal.
The original article can be found here.
State rankings neglect to tell success stories found in Akron Public Schools
Tom Ghinder
Published 6:00 a.m. ET March 22, 2022
On March 12, the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) STEM High School won the 2022 Ohio VEX Robotics Competition. This marks the school’s second consecutive state championship. In addition, Firestone high school finished in the top 10. These wins qualify both schools for the world championships, and all of the competitors and their supporting families, teachers and coaches deserve hearty congratulations.
Akron Public Schools are consistently ranked low among all state districts, yet these rankings don’t accurately measure academic success, opportunity, social emotional learning or myriad other components that constitute quality education.
Rather, state rankings most closely measure parental income. In 2019, the median income for A ranked districts was $95,423. For F ranked districts, the median was $32,658. In all districts, on average, students with economic advantages outperform students without such advantages in ranking criteria.
There are many reasons for which children from households struggling with poverty perform poorly in state ranking criteria, such as housing instability, poor nutrition and health habits in the family, lack of books in the home, generational trauma, etc. For these students, however, unfortunate circumstances need not determine their future. In Akron, students coming from
difficult situations enjoy numerous opportunities and many break the cycle of poverty.
For example, students who choose Akron Public Schools encounter opportunities for an education focused on their interests and desires. APS offers an almost limitless number of programs that often surpass those found in other local schools. Just one of them resides in the STEM cluster — as demonstrated above — not to mention the arts, International Baccalaureate, medicine, marketing and machining, among the dozens of other pathways available to students.
All APS students who excel academically (3.0 GPA or above along with a qualifying ACT score) qualify for a full scholarship to the University of Akron. Students at the I Promise School that meet requirements are eligible for full scholarships to either UA or Kent State University.
Graduates of Kenmore-Garfield High School qualify for tuition and book scholarships to Stark State College from Akron Promise. Project GRAD Akron, the AVID College Readiness System and other programs operate to facilitate preparation and access and some provide scholarships to postsecondary education. Students attending Akron Early College High School graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate degree, saving two years of college
tuition toward a bachelor’s degree if that is the path they choose.
APS is clearly the district of choice for local education. Don’t let the state of Ohio rankings fool you.
Tom Ghinder is the parent of Akron Public Schools graduates and founder of Akron Promise. In 2017, Akron Promise started the process to implement direct programs for students at Kenmore-Garfield High School. These include the Student Success Team, ACT testing support programs and the Kenmore-Garfield Stark State College scholarship.
Tom Ghinder introduces the Akron Promise City Series on the Wrangler Roundup!
Akron Promise on Around Akron with Blue Green
Summer Kenmore Connection Article Features Akron Promise Intern Margaret Tulay
From Minnesota to Akron: Margaret Tulay Engages with Kenmore-Garfield
High School Students through Akron Promise’s Student Success Team
by Jeanne-Hélène Roy
Just five years ago, if you’d have mentioned Kenmore to Minnesota native
Margaret Tulay, she wouldn’t have been able to readily identify the reference –
beyond perhaps a brand of appliances sold by Sears. Since then, the University
of Akron education major slated to graduate in December has become a fixture
of Kenmore-Garfield High School (KGHS) where, through her work with Akron
Promise’s Student Success Team (SST), she regularly interacts with Kenmore’s
high schoolers, guiding them to post-secondary pathways and self-sufficiency.
Tulay moved to Akron after having kicked off her college career in Omaha, where she served as goalkeeper for the University of Nebraska women’s soccer team. After experiencing some setbacks there, Tulay, 22, whose father hails from Liberia, chose to continue her degree in Akron to experience living in a more racially diverse area as a means of more authentically connecting with her Black identity. Thanks to the University of Akron’s EX[L] Center’s experiential learning internship program, which strives to help students become locally engaged leaders, Tulay hooked up with Akron Promise two and a half years ago.
In the SST’s bi-monthly meetings with KGHS students, Tulay harnesses her natural sense of leadership to connect with the group, challenging them to identify their personal strengths and goals as well as to devise better time management strategies. Self-assured yet relaxed in her approach, Tulay devises well-crafted activities that prompt students to engage with each other, teaching them invaluable teamwork skills that they can readily transfer to their next chapter of life, whatever it may be.
Tulay relishes the opportunities Akron Promise affords her, especially at KGHS, where she’s able to make meaningful connections with the student cohort, many of whom can identify with her as a young Black woman – a role model not significantly older than they are. In the short term, Tulay hopes to work in the
Akron area, both teaching special needs children and assisting in “taking Akron Promise and making it mobile,” as she remarks, meaning that she’d like to help the non-profit expand to serve more students across the city. In a handful of years, Tulay envisions living in a townhouse in Washington, D.C., where
she can take her career aspirations to the next level, both in the classroom and in effecting change at the policy level.
Akron Promise is a non-profit organization that strives to shape and implement a community-involved culture of education in Akron. Along with other local stakeholders, Akron Promise directs students and families to appropriate opportunities, resources, and supports as it mentors Akron Public School students through high school into post-secondary pathways.
Akron Promise’s Student Success Team currently focuses on
Kenmore-Garfield high school, where it holds bi-monthly meetings, in addition to providing ACT Testing Support programs and FAFSA workshops to prepare students in applying for the Kenmore-Garfield Stark State College Scholarship.
For more information on Akron Promise and the SST, please see:
www.facebook.com/AkronPromise or www.AkronPromise.org.
Or please contact Dr. Jeanne-Hélène Roy, Executive Director at
nena@akronpromise.org (330) 715-5598
Akron Promise article in the Kenmore Connection
https://kenmorechamber.com/images/KC/2021/KEN_CON_87.pdf#page=12
Akron Promise’s Student Success Team Steers Kenmore-Garfield Students Towards Bright Outcomes
by Jeanne-Hélène Roy
“No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship.”
–Dr. James Comey, Child Psychiatrist and Education Specialist, Yale University
Dr. James Comey’s simple, declarative sentence – delivered during a 1995 lecture – speaks mountains of truth in K-12 education, where often a strong connection with an adult will inspire students of opportunity to succeed after high school and into adulthood. For Stephanie Martin, a Nursing and Patient Care instructor at Kenmore-Garfield High School, Comey’s words hit home over the course of a discussion with Tom Ghinder, Founder of Akron Promise, an educational non-profit launched in 2015. In 2017, Akron Promise established a direct working relationship with Kenmore-Garfield High School, and two years later the non-profit announced the Kenmore-Garfield Stark State Scholarship.
The Student Success Team
Since the implementation of its scholarship program, Akron Promise also inaugurated the Student Success Team (SST), a mentoring group available to assist the entirety of Kenmore-Garfield’s 786 students. Staffed by Mike DiFalco, the school’s Academic Achievement Coordinator, and Margaret Tulay, an Education major at the University of Akron, the crew welcomed Akron Promise’s new Executive Director Dr. Jeanne-Hélène (Néna) Roy last week; since the SST’s inception Ghinder served as the group’s third member.
On bi-monthly SST meeting days, learners arrive with their APSissued Chromebooks in tow, ready to participate in goal-setting activities while relishing sandwiches provided by the team. Skills taught range from time-management to ACT prep and résumé-writing. Seniors learn to complete FAFSA forms as well as to compose college application essays and apply for jobs. The SST continues to monitor seniors after graduation as they segue into the workforce and/or enroll in college programs.
Flexibility: Celebrating the Individual
Ghinder attributes the program’s success to its underlying flexibility. Rather than approach mentoring with a one-size-fits-all mindset, the SST practices a version of “radical hospitality,” which in this context entails meeting students where they are to address their own expressed needs.
By considering each student’s unique circumstances and goals, the SST not only provides directional assistance to learners, but also cultivates qualities that can’t be found in a manual: respect and empathy. When met with direct eye contact and supportive words, humans tend to respond in kind. Part of the SST’s philosophy, then, is to transcend mentoring models that adhere to a rigid structure, as well as to bring a “human touch” into the equation.
It Takes a Village
We all know that nobody can brave it alone in the world, and this aphorism certainly holds true in the case of the SST’s efforts. Without the help of invited guest speakers who periodically hold lunchtime Q&A sessions and parents/community members who assist in transporting students to field-trip destinations, the SST wouldn’t be able to extend as many options for enrichment as it does to learners. The relationships Kenmore-Garfield students form with engaged adults in their midst are ultimately bonds for life, bonds passed down from one generation to the next.
For more information on Akron Promise and the SST, see:
https://www.facebook.com/AkronPromise
https://twitter.com/AkronPromise
http://www.AkronPromise.Org
or contact:
Dr. Jeanne-Hélène Roy
nroy.66@gmail.com
330-715-5598
Akron Promise Helps Eight Attend Stark State by Daralee Ghinder
With eight Kenmore Garfield High School graduates attending Stark State College on full tuition and book scholarships, Akron Promise is back at work for the 2018-19 school year. The Stark State freshmen are not only receiving financial support for books and tuition, they are also getting information on how to steward those dollars. Students are attending sessions at the Financial Empowerment Center (FEC) on Kenmore Blvd. The FEC is available to all residents of Summit county.
Akron Promise is also working with Stark State’s academic advisors, and we are helping to ensure that each of the scholarship recipients also feel emotionally and academically supported. Stark State’s team is working to help all of our students persist until they achieve their goals.
In early October, Akron Public Schools and Stark State College announced that Stark State will be a ‘Sister College” to Kenmore-Garfield High School. They have committed to initial in-kind support of $150,000 in the first year, and $75,000 of in-kind support in the following two years. Akron Promise is very excited about the recent announcement, as this collaboration will give extra support, information and opportunities to the students and staff at KGHS. Stark State and the University of Akron have also announced a partnership where classes taken at Stark State will transfer to the University of Akron, with seamless movement between the two.
Other big news is the commencement of College and Career Academies at KGHS. This method of education brings real-world application to what our students learn in their required curriculum, as well as potential career paths. Partnerships with local businesses expose students to internship and employment opportunities. There are a variety of fields to choose from, though students are allowed to change their path. This learning meets requirements for mandated tests and is transferable no matter which path they choose. All freshmen participate in the Freshman Academy where they learn skills necessary to be successful in high school, complete career exploration activities, and visit college campuses. Upperclassmen will participate in either the Academy of Emerging Technology and Design or the Academy of Health and Human Services. Students can also apply to attend other academies at other high schools in Akron.
There are many positive initiatives to give KGHS students access to opportunities that can lead to a rewarding and productive post high school life. Akron Promise is working to help connect students to all available resources. It’s a mission that requires a lot of community investment. For anyone interested in giving an hour a week, there is a big demand for mentors. No experience is necessary. For those interested in making a tax deductible contribution to the Kenmore-Garfield Stark State Scholarship, there is a link on the Akron Promise website.
If you’d like more information about any of the programs mentioned in this article, links are available here or contact Tom Ghinder, Founder of Akron Promise, at tghinder@gmail.com or 330-329-4855.
Published in the Kenmore Connection, Summer 2018 (Vol. 19, Issue 4)
Join us tomorrow for “Unlikely” – a movie about Education Attainment and featuring Akron
TUESDAY, NOV. 13, 2018, 6PM
AKRON CIVIC THEATER
FREE!
Over the last 3 years, Los Angeles-based filmmakers Jaye & Adam Fenderson spent hundreds of hours filming a new documentary about educational attainment, with a focus on five U.S. cities—including Akron.
Tomorrow night Three Frame Media is bringing “Unlikely” to Akron. This film focuses on the reality of higher education by following students, two of whom call Akron home, through their own process at The University of Akron.
The evening will include a pre-screening catered dinner reception in the lobby and the chance for the audience to connect with local schools, organizations and businesses and get resources for post-secondary and workforce opportunities.
Doors will be opening the doors at 6 pm for a 45-minute reception featuring a local caterer. Click here to get your tickets.
The screening will be followed by a townhall discussion who will share their expertise and perspective on supporting student success in the Akron community.
Moderator: Amani Abraham
Panelists
David James, Superintendent, Akron Public School
Jolene A. Lane, Chief Diversity Office and Vice President Inclusion & Equity, The University of Akron
Clarissa Santana, Adult Focus Student/Unlikely Cast, The University of Akron
Derran Wimer, Executive Director, Summit Education Initiative
Adam & Jaye Fenderson, Directors & Producers, Three Frames Media
Just Another Reason Life is Good in Kenmore by Daralee Ghinder
On Saturday July 14th, Akron Promise held two fundraisers for the
Kenmore-Garfield Stark State Scholarship Fund.
The golf outing at Mud Run Golf Course was blessed by good weather
and a supportive group of golfers. In the evening, there was a Dessert
Party at the Live Music Now! venue. Peach cobbler, strawberry shortcake
and a s’mores bar were big hits, along with the live music of JT Buck,
KHG Graduate Chris Miller, Greg Milo and Jared Soster.
Tom and Daralee Ghinder, founders of Akron Promise, are incredibly
humbled by, and appreciative of, the generous support of this
community, the administrative staff at KGHS, Summit County Executive
Eileen Shapiro and the friends, family and others who helped in the
success of these events.
The big announcement of the night was that Akron Promise will commit
to scholarships through 2022. This means that as soon as this year’s 9th
graders start high school, they know there is a tuition free path to postsecondary success. This scholarship is currently offered to ten graduating seniors at KGHS to attend Stark State College.
Please consider adding your time and resources to Akron Promise,
as they continue to grow and expand opportunities for Kenmore-Garfi eld
students. The continuation of the scholarship is made possible, in
part, by the generous contributions of these local Kenmore
businesses: Beneficial Building Services, The Guitar Department,
Showcase Meats, Kenmore Komics & Games, and Olde 97 Cafe.
Please support these businesses, as they support our youth.
Published in the Kenmore Connection, Summer 2018 (Vol. 19, Issue 3)