American Province Ministry Connections

June 2024

This June edition will be the last one until the Fall. May the summer offer a time of rich personal renewal and well-merited rest. May blessings abound!

Washington School for Girls (WSG)

Dr. Beth Reaves - Head of School

http://www.washingtonschoolforgirls.org/

Washington School for Girls (WSG) middle school students had the opportunity to develop and launch a new business with support from business mentors. The Entrepreneurship Project was created to help students apply math to an area of personal interest and showcase how math concepts exist outside of traditional academic learning.

WSG partnered with volunteers from National Real Estate Advisors to bring this project to life. Employees from National served as business mentors and gave presentations to students about their areas of professional expertise. The company offered a cash prize to fund the start-up costs of a winning business. Students also took a field trip to National’s downtown Washington, DC, corporate offices.

Students learned the basics about running a business: creating a business plan, projecting revenues and expenses, marketing and branding, developing a pitch for investors, and more. Some students elected to work on their own, while others collaborated on joint ventures.

Photo Caption: WSG 7th grader Gabby conducts a trial run of her pop-up cafe during Teacher Appreciation Week.

Proposed businesses included custom-made jewelry, a pop-up cafe, a line of self-care products, to-order cupcake catering, an in-school snack stand, and commissioned original drawings. This project allowed some students to expand activities they had already been working on independently; for others, it was their first time diving into entrepreneurship.

After developing their business plans, students scripted and recorded pitch videos for a final competition. A winner was selected from each grade, receiving a $100 prize, and an overall winner was selected to receive a $200 prize to launch her business.

Hope Partnership for Education

Virgil Sheppard - President and CEO

http://www.hopepartnershipforeducation.org/

On Friday, May 17th, Hope Partnership for Education hosted its first Career Day since 2019. This event was one component of our graduate support and workforce development programming. Forty volunteers representing a wide array of professions attended the event and discussed their career paths with our middle school students and alumni community members. Our volunteers were realtors, educators, aviators, engineers, doctors, and so much more. They brought together hands-on activities to demonstrate common projects in their respective fields, answered questions about the essential skills required to succeed in obtaining a qualifying degree, and inspired students with words of encouragement.

The event started with Keynote Speaker Mek’hi Strong, Hope Partnership School Class of 2017, who shared wise words with the entire middle school and volunteers. “Everyone knows the saying that ‘if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life’. I didn’t believe that until I started working at the Maleek Jackson Boxing Gym as their Social Media Manager. No matter where you start in your career, if you have a passion, don’t stop pursuing it because there will always be a door for you somewhere.”

This event was sponsored by the Hope Partnership for Education Board of Trustees and planned by the emergent Hope Partnership Young Professionals Committee members. Career Day would not have been possible without their belief in the Hope mission.

Sponsored Ministries of the Society of Holy Child Jesus

Casa Cornelia Law Center * Providence Center

Co-Sponsored Ministries of the Society of Holy Child Jesus

South Central Los Angeles Ministry Project (LAMP) *

Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep * Hope Partnership for Education *

Cristo Rey New York High School * Washington School for Girls

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Ministry Connections is a monthly publication highlighting ministries sponsored or co-sponsored

by the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.