DPR Employees Make Positive Impact on Students in and out of Classroom

Whether tutoring students in English at Redwood City, CA’s Fair Oaks Elementary School or teaming with the Future Scientists and Engineers of America (FSEA) program to foster children’s logic skills and scientific prowess, DPR has long made a home for itself in our nation’s classrooms. Recently, DPR San Diego employees once again headed back to school to work with students enrolled in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program.

“For some of these kids, this is the only place where they receive the support and mentoring they need to reach their potential and attend college” said DPR volunteer Gorgea Davidson.

Spearheaded in 1980 by a teacher in San Diego, the now-international AVID program places determined students, who lack mentors and guidance, into more rigorous courses, preparing them for college eligibility. Recognizing professional success often requires interpersonal skills, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC), Junior Achievement and AVID partnered to develop Corporate Leaders Advocating Success Skills (CLASS) to connect students with leaders from the business community.

“It was truly a group effort for DPR,” Davidson continued. “Though not everyone could make the rounds to the classroom, we had DPR employees lining up during the spring semester to assist with more than 200 student interviews at our office and jobsites.”

These interviews are just one part of the interactive curriculum set out for the students in the CLASS program. For one hour a week, eight weeks a semester, traditional classroom environments are infused with activities designed to give students a glimpse of the post-collegiate world, one filled with mock interviews, resume-review sessions and workplace tours. Following the curriculum, DPR San Diego volunteers committed their time and energy to teaching the students the value of teamwork and clear communication, in the hopes of instilling confidence in this next generation of leaders.

“Though the results of AVID are impressive—more than three-fourths of AVID grads attend university, almost twice the rate at which U.S. high school grads do—we haven’t formally measured the success of the CLASS project,” said Davidson. “However, the results are evident within the kids themselves. One volunteer even had the chance to see one of the students, now working at the ballpark, and she told him she would not have had the confidence to apply for the job if it had not been for the program.”