Erin Dickerson’s Prayer
Lord,
This week marked the beginning of Hanukkah, Advent, and the busiest shopping season of the year. As we try to discern the “perfect” gift for our loved ones, help us to remember some of the greatest gifts we can give cost us nothing monetarily. This season, and always, help us to give:
- the gift gratitude for the people in our lives and the blessings they provide us,
- the gift of our attention, to be present in the moment free of distraction,
- the gifts of grace, forgiveness, and non-judgment for we are all human and make mistakes,
- the gift of a compliment for we never know how much a kind word can mean to someone,
- the gift of time to be with and serve those with needs both big and small, and
- the gift of love, a true and unconditional love, for people as You created them, not as we wish for them to be.
Amen.
Announcements
Dates to Remember
- 12/14/2021, 6 PM to 9PM, CNO Holiday Party at Moraine Country Club. The price is $35 per person and includes appetizers, dinner, desert, and valet parking. You must pay ahead of time. There will be a cash bar available. Deadline to RSVP is December 3, 2021. So far, 119 people have signed up.
- 12/14/2021, there is no lunch meeting at Yankee Trace.
Michelle Littlejohn, Fast Forward Re-Engagement Center at Sinclair College Place
Debe Dockins introduced Michelle Littlejohn, manager of the Fast Forward Re-Engagement Center at Sinclair College Place. At the Re-Engagement Center, she oversees the Montgomery County grant funded Out-of-School Youth Initiative. A former Intervention Specialist with Vandalia Butler High School for 7 years, she has also developed and led college & career readiness, mentoring and self-wellness programs for non-profits during her professional journey.
Michelle L. Littlejohn has 30 years professional experience in education and youth program services. A graduate of Ohio University and Antioch School of McGregor, where she earned her Master of Education, she is passionate about community service and access to quality education for all.
Her passion to serve the community fuels her energy to provide advocacy, best practices strategies, and support to non-traditional and traditional schools, educational programs and community organizations in the pursuit to increase high school completion and transition to post-secondary education, career, and/or military for ALL students. A certified dropout prevention specialist and trauma skilled specialist, she feels her purpose in this life is to empower and help shift mindsets of those in need of seeking their full potential to live their best life. She is a wife and proud mother of her 14-year-old daughter.
Sue Phelps, the academic coach for the Fast Forward Re-Engagement Center, was also at today’s meeting.
Michelle thanked CNO for inviting her and her colleague Sue Phelps. She also thanked CNO member Deb Saunders for introducing her to CNO. Deb recently did some excellent graphic design work for the Fast Forward Re-Engagement Center.
Presentation
The Fast Forward Re-Engagment Center (FFRC) is a movement to reconnect Youth for High School Completion. The center is celebrating its 20th anniversary, having started in 2001 at Sinclair Community College. The center is grant funded, but they are still part of Sinclair College.
You can view Michelle’s slide deck here.
She showed us a motivational video of “The Truth Behind, Fake It Till You Make It”. The video is of Jeremy, who tricked his mother into thinking he got all A’s on his report card. His mother had previously told Jeremy that he was not High School material, so she was very excited he was doing much better. He liked how happy his mother was when she thought he got straight A’s. He remembered his teachers were telling him that they believed in him. He started trying and was able to succeed. Jeremy said the worst thing is to go into a corner instead of asking for help.
Mission
To guide the future of disconnected youth in Montgomery County by increasing the high school completion rate and facilitating successful transition beyond high school.
Goals
- Increase Montgomery County high school graduation rate through dropout outreach and re-engagement of students ages 15-24.
- Advocate for out-of-school youth and affiliate recovery schools/educational programs via resource referrals and collaborative initiatives.
- Provide professional development and technical assistance for community organizations, educators, and credit recovery schools or programs.
- Assist students’ transition to post-secondary education.
- “The Fast Forward Re-Engagement Center makes a significant contribution to the State of Ohio. The Goal of which is to increase annually the percentage of its high school graduates.” – Charlotte McGuire, President-Elect State Board of Education
Quick History
- In 1998 there was a huge epidemic dropout rate of 25%. Several business leaders formed a task force to address the problem. They created the Fast Forward Re-Engagement center.
- Between 2002-2010 they reduced the dropout rate to 12%.
- In 2020 the dropout rate was 10%
- Financial aid packages and scholarships are available to go to Sinclair college for 3 years.
20 Year Outcomes of the Center
- 7780 out-of-school youth students have been assessed and coached for high school re-engagement between 2001-2021.
- Over 4000 disconnected youth have earned a high school diploma from partner schools and educational programs.
- 636 FFRC partner school graduates have matriculated to Sinclair and then transferred and/or earned a post-secondary credential between 2001-2021.
Services Available
Academic Coaching
Provide holistic coaching/advising and recommend interventions to assist ‘opportunity youth’ toward the completion of their education/career and personal goals.
Resources
Connect students to resources that include support for pregnant/parenting youth, homeless youth, youth job readiness, remediation/tutoring/test prep, ESL learners, and adult learners.
Case Management
Maintain contact with clients via monthly check-ins and follow-ups with schools. Provide post-completion transitional support.
Access
Resource referral and coaching services provided in-person, virtual or by phone appointments.
Collaborative Initiatives
- Community Cafe with MC Mentoring Collaborative
- Parent & Family Engagement Forum with Young Scholars Program
- Extended Learning Hubs with DECS, East End Community Services, and Ahali Academy
5 Year Outlook: Outcome 2016 – 2021
- 1,705 youth & families received referral and resource services
- 1,114 students provided coaching, re-enrollment services and access to best fit alternative school/program for high school completion
- 68% of FFRC serviced students successfully re-engaged
- 16 school and community collaborative partnerships
- 358 matriculated to Sinclair
How can you help?
- Be a Mentor
- Tutor Volunteer
- Pay it Forward
- Speak Up
Questions and Answers
Q. How do Students find out about FFRC Services?
A. FFRC does community outreach including radio ads and billboards. Teachers are informed about the programs and let students know.
Q. Are services offered outside Montgomery County?
A. FFRC also helps Greene County students.
Q. What about Older Students
A. There are opportunities for adult students 22 and over. There are 3 different programs to help older students. They help students decide if a diploma or GED is the right path.
Q. How do I become a Tutor?
A. Contact FFRC and they will find a good fit for you to help. Areas include GED, pre-SAT Preparation, and English as a Second Language (ESL).
Thank You
Thank you, Michelle Littlejohn, for educating us about the opportunities available at the Fast Forward Re-Engagement Center at Sinclair College Place.
Thanks to all CNO members for helping with one of our very successful fundraisers. We cannot do it without the generous time of our members.
New Member Readings and Inductions
| Name | Sponsor | 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction |
| Kent Loose | Jean Pummill | 2nd Reading |
| Mark Poling | Stan Franzaglia | Induction |
Welcome Guests!
| Guest | Guest Of |
| Chris Schwing | Don Massie |
| Dennis Smith | Bob Collins |
| Michelle Littlejohn | Speaker |
| Sue Phelps | Program |
Happy Bucks
| Member | Reason |
| Debe Dockins | Christy Gariety is wearing awesome shoes. |
| Jesse Gaither | Daughter was selected as one of 20 recipeints out of 80 candidates into the Margaret Boyd Program at Ohio University. |
| Kelly George | Just finished her last treatment for breast cancer and she is doing great. |
| Bob Lawson | Granddaughter is a CHS band member who plays the tuba had a great time being in this years Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. |
| Deb Saunders | Thanks to Michelle Littlejohn for her presentation today about Sinclair’s Fast Forward Re-Engagement program. |
| Christy Gariety | Exceeded her goal for the Adopt-a-Family program this year. She and Centerville schools thank all that have donated. |
| Karl Frydryk | Glad that Gary Hansen was finally able to wear his Michigan shirt after 9 years. |
Sergeants at Arms
| Member | Infraction |
| Brian Nolan | Brian melted the back of his jacket at the tree lot by standing too close to the heater. He must have been trying to stay warm instead of working. |
| Greg Griffin | Did not return the chainsaw after taking it to a customer to cut the bottom of their delivered tree. Greg’s rebuttal was that technically speaking, he did return the chainsaw to the Tree Lot – however he left it in the back seat floor of the delivery truck, and no one knew it was there. |
| Beth Duncan | Denise O’Neil’s car was backed into by someone on the tree lot. Beth is a team captain and her team was on duty, so obviously that makes it Beth’s fault. |
| Roland Rapp | Didn’t provide enough dollar bills to make change for customers at the tree lot. One lady was forced into a $2 tip since they could not make change. |
| Larry England | Discouraged others from buying 50-50 tickets because he said he had the winning ticket. |
| Bob Duffy | Tried to come in the back door from the patio at Yankee Trace but the door was locked so the sergeants had to let him in. |
| Everyone that tried to fix the heater at the tree lot on Sunday night. | A lot of guys tried to restart the heater on Sunday night at the tree lot but failed. Erin Dickerson went over and fixed it. |
Membership Anniversaries
| Member | Joined | Years |
| Dan Beck | December 1, 1981 | 40 |
| Gary Smiga | December 1, 1985 | 36 |
| Roberta Taylor | December 6, 1995 | 26 |
Birthdays
| Member | Birthday |
| Nancy Anderson | November 30 |
| Paul Bowell | December 3 |
| Nancy Lehren | December 5 |
| Bill DeShurko | December 6 |
| Kent Loose | December 6 |
CNO Donations – 2013 through November 2021
Click here to see a summary of donations the club has made since 2013
Thank You Notes Received
Click here to see the Thank You Notes we received this week.