FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 25, 2009
Contact: Robert Preston, Jr.,
912.260.4276
robert.preston@sgc.edu
Plant Their Feet Returns to SGC
Last week, 44 eighth graders from Coffee Middle School
returned to South Georgia College as a part of the Plant Their Feet program.
The three-year-old project is designed to encourage school students to
remain in school and attend college.
Plant Their Feet began in the 2006-2007 school year with 64 fifth graders
from West Green Elementary School. Twice a year, students in the Plant Their
Feet program return to SGC in order to participate in a number of different
activities. Through involvement with college faculty, staff and students,
and careful tracking of their academic progress by both SGC and the Coffee
County School System, both the college and public school system hope these
students will get excited about college, and enroll in SGC when they
graduate from high school.
“Our focus of the Plant Their Feet program is to help these students stay on
track, finish high school and go on to college,” says Amy Hancock, program
coordinator at South Georgia College. “Helping our young people succeed in
middle school and on into high school is critically important as they work
toward entrance into college.”
On their most recent trip to college, the students enjoyed a welcome from
Dr. Virginia Carson, SGC president, and then participated in the Game of
Real Life. Developed in 2007, the game is a presentation designed by the
Coffee County Area Employer Committee and East Central Technical College.
The format of the presentation involves two presenters, usually a younger
professional combined with a mature professional, who show the audience the
types of wages that can be expected from the following levels of
education/training: drop-out, high school graduate, technical college
graduate, military enlistee, and business owner. For the Plant Their Feet
group, J.R. Charles, Director of Entrepreneur and Small Business Services
from the Coffee County Chamber of Commerce, and Adam Smith from First
National Bank of Coffee County conducted the program.
The presentation also outlines various work ethics that are required from
today’s workforce. These ethics range from appearance to accountability, and
the presenters outline the consequences of breaking these work ethics: a
loss of employment and checkered reputation. Following the presentation, the
duo answered questions ranging from the audience, and they ranged from
college advice to how the credit market operates.
“It is so important that today’s middle school-aged children know that their
efforts today will pay off big tomorrow. The Plant Their Feet group is a
special group continually receiving encouragement to attend college, whether
it is academic or technical. We believe that this positive reinforcement
will make them think ‘WHEN I go to college,’ as opposed to ‘IF I got to
college.’ The Game of Real Life is just a small part of that experiment. If
we can prove that positive reinforcement and active engagement boosts
college enrollment, it could change the way we view traditional
career/college advisement, even extending all the way down to the grade
school level,” said Charles.
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About South Georgia College
South Georgia College (www.sgc.edu)
was founded in 1906 and is a two-year institution in the University System
of Georgia. Located in Douglas, Ga., the college's environment gives
students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close
collaboration with faculty.
