February 2021 News
A Message From Our Executive Director
Communities in Schools of Greater Greensboro recognizes this critical moment in US and world history and the social, economic and educational disaster of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In my 27 years in the business of surrounding students with the love and help they need to stay in school successfully, we have never heard a louder call for schools, non-profits, businesses, governments and the community at large to embrace the shifting educational paradigm toward re-engagement, equitable learning, and a school climate that benefits and supports ALL students, inside and outside the classroom.

Beyond the purely academic and physical needs of students, social and emotional supports in and out of the schoolhouse will make a significant difference in how our students return to the schoolhouse now and in the foreseeable future. We pledge our daily efforts to do everything we can to lessen the harm caused by this wicked infection.

In closing, we salute our colleagues at GCS as true heroes and heroines. You are in our minds and hearts. 

Hopefully,
Jimmi Williams
Executive Director
Happy Black History Month from CIS of Greater Greensboro!
Dynabooks Donation
DYNOMITE with Dynabooks!!
"When the going gets weird, the weird get going!"

This summer, we got “weird” with Brigitte Blanton and Antwyan Jones from the City of Greensboro/ Greensboro Public Library on a research project to identify laptops and MIFI for kids without at Smith and Dudley High Schools. In August, Communities In Schools of NC (CISNC) received 1.1 mil in CARES Funding. Our award came to $75,211. We allocated $48,000 for the purchase of computers, MIFI, Office 365, etc. We worked with our site coordinators and project directors to identify and prioritize distribution. Our volunteer atty., Jeri Whitfield from Fox Rothschild LLP, drafted the loan agreement. On Friday, January 1, the third phase of the project came to fruition as we received 80 DYNABOOKS! As soon as we are able to setup the computers and receive the MIFI’s, 80 students will receive the computers so that they can re-engage virtually until they return in person. This is a real example of the tangible difference made through great community-school relationship!
Academy Sports Outdoors!
Serendipity!!!
“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.” -Khalil Gibran

What a magnificent act of kindness presented by Academy Sports and Outdoors. Thanks to Greg Hairston, associate athletic director at NCA&TSU, and Liza Barrett, senior marketing specialist for Academy, our staff visited the Wendover Avenue location to select items to distribute to kids and families. In this pandemic of extreme financial difficulty for most of our families, this came in the nick of time. It afforded us the opportunity to present gifts to kids or to use the gifts as attendance and participation incentives for the current semester. Prizes ranged from footballs and basketballs, to wireless earbuds/headphones, to board and computer games. In their charity, Academy demonstrated one of the great strengths of the community and CIS: the power of kindness and the ability to direct that kindness greatest need. Academy, we salute you!
Great Student Outcomes!
It's A Wrap!

During a routine check and connect, a parent informed Tangela Hall, the CIS coordinator at Smith High School, that she couldn’t provide for her children for Christmas. The help she expected did not materialize. 
 
Ms. Hall began making phone calls to community partners, only to learn that their resources had tapped out. Ms. Hall then reached out to Ms. Rinda Estes, social worker extraordinary and the CISGG assist director for case management/program operations . Ms. Estes initiated another round of calls and emails only to learn that her sources had cut off appeals for help. Ms. Estes secured two coats for the students from the supply in the CIS storage donated by AT&T Call Center workers.  
 
As a last resort, Ms. Estes reached out to Jimmi Williams, the executive director, and asked what CIS could do directly. From emergency funds donated to CIS from its board of directors, advisory council members and the community at large, CIS donated $300.00 to offer help for the students. With this support, Ms. Hall took the children shopping. They received four (4) outfits each, socks, undergarments, journals, football, basketball, doll babies, family board games, comforter sets, pillows, throw blankets, drawing kits, gift cards, etc...
CISGG Celebrates It's Founding!
Community leaders such as Jim Melvin, Carol Bruce, and Hayes Clement found unacceptable the double- digit dropout rate for the County and Greensboro City School systems in 1986-87. From the halls of the Greensboro Economic Development Corporation, led by Jim Melvin, the community reached out to Bill Milliken, founder, Cities in Schools (CIS) to come to Greensboro to discuss the virtues of CIS and how it might be applied to the local challenge that included teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse and a overall lack of coordination and integration of existing community resources to address the underlying challenges.

With a $46,250 Venture Grant from the United Way, public and private leaders such as Jim Melvin, Hayes Clement (Arthur Andersen & Co.), Pete Deschenes (AT&T), Lynda Clifford (Community Volunteer), Art Constantini (Guilford County Schools), and Sue Medley (Greensboro Public Schools) began to assemble the unprecedented support of other public and private leaders such as the Guilford County Board of County Commissioners, the Greensboro and High Point Board of Education, GCS and HCS leaders, corporations such as Wachovia, AT&T, Ciba, et al. On January 8, 1988, the Agency drew its first breath.

With the daily, voluntary leadership of Hayes Clement who had worked...
Donor Spotlight!
Meryl Mullane is Agency Principal of Mullane Public Relations+Marketing, with over 35 years in Greensboro. 

Learning about Communities in Schools of Greater Greensboro, at first I was moved by hearing from students whose lives were changed through CIS, and then I was even more impressed by learning how CIS is hardwired to focus on getting results with efficiency. The marvelous CISGG team works unflaggingly to alleviate each part of the struggle that at-risk students have to deal with, daily challenges that most children never have to face. With CIS, I know 100% of what I give helps students right here, and when it was possible to set up a monthly donation on the CISGG website, it was easy to set it and forget it. Education is the responsibility of every adult, to do all we can to foster opportunities for students to stay in school and graduate, which is the foundation for a stable and productive life. Future success in our community depends on helping young people on the path out of poverty and CISGG is a vital partner for on the path to stability and a productive life...
Our African American Male Initiative Program Over the Years!
Your Donation Now Is More Important Than Ever!
Your Donation Is More Important Than Ever

Go to cisgg.org and donate.

Donations may also be made by sending a check to Communities In Schools of Greater Greensboro, P.O. Box 1347, Greensboro, NC 27402-1347. 

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