SCSD Students Learn Life Skills & Career Readiness through Skills Win! Program
“We’d like to open an event planning and catering company that primarily hires low income or homeless people,” the PSLA sophomores shared. “Our business would benefit the Syracuse community while also serving as a source of income – and food – for those who need it.”“We’d like to open a multicultural restaurant, right here in Syracuse.”
“We’d like to turn abandoned malls and buildings here in Syracuse into homeless shelters – almost like group homes. There would be individual bedrooms and shared bathrooms, with a communal kitchen and living space. We’d have resources within these residences to help people with supports and to guide them to get back on their feet.”
It was their final meeting, and PSLA at Fowler sophomores were presenting their business pitches to investors.
The ‘businesses’ were hypothetical ideas developed through group brainstorming over the course of just half an hour, and the ‘investors’ were two Syracuse University student volunteers – but the concepts, and the skills students used to bring them to life, were real.
Through the Skills Win! program, high school students at PSLA at Fowler and ITC have been receiving weekly lessons in people skills, time management, life skills, budgeting, business, and more.
The program, developed from Professor Bill Coplin’s book, ‘10 Things Employers Want You to Learn in College,’ is led by Syracuse University student volunteers from a college policy studies department course called PST 416: Community Problem Solving – volunteers like Abigail Jones.
“My favorite part about volunteering as a Skills Coach through Skills Win! is that it is a mutual learning experience,” Abigail explained. “Although we are the ones guiding students through exercises and training them to improve skills like typing, public speaking and time management, the students that we work with reciprocate that coaching process by providing us with valuable insights on how to improve our program to cater to their needs and interests. My hope for students who complete the Skills Win program is that they walk away with a new goal that they want to achieve. After doing a time management exercise in which students made a schedule of tasks that they had to do the following week, I had one student tell me that he was looking forward to taping his schedule on his wall so that he would remember what he had to do. Moments like this, where students feel motivated to continue practicing a skill, are what our program is made for.”
Students say the practical takeaways that they have gained from the program are already invaluable.
“We’ve learned life skills like budgeting for food, entertainment, clothes, and utilities,” PSLA sophomore Ella Foresti shared. “We’ve planned out our week to help us stay organized. We’ve practiced interview skills. These are very important life skills that everyone should know! Typing has probably helped me the most, because I never properly learned how to do that. The budgeting was also helpful, because now I can save for college or for a house, instead of blowing my money when I get a job! I hope to work either in forensics, psychology, or maybe the military or police force. Whatever I end up doing, these things will help me.”
“They’ve talked to us about very practical, real-life situations,” PSLA sophomore Jayda Southworth added. “Like the 50/30/20 rule to help us learn budgeting – 50% to our needs, 30% to our wants, and 20% to savings. They’ve gone over how to make a resume and what it takes to get a job – what we can say in an interview. These are things that we don’t always learn in school, but they are a real necessity for life. It’s been super helpful. I’ve always been stressed about interviews, but they have helped me rehearse what to say and what to put on my resume, and I absolutely feel more confident in myself now.”
In addition to the school-based curriculum, this year, for the first time, SCSD middle school students were also introduced to the Skills Win! curriculum, thanks to the Syracuse Police Department’s PAL program. Over the course of a month, sixth through eighth grade students from Clary, Ed Smith, ELMS, Grant, Huntington, Roberts, Salem Hyde, Syracuse Latin, and Syracuse STEM at Blodgett participated in a Skills Win! Tournament for Youth – evening coaching sessions to help them learn these same valuable skills. In partnership with the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, students learned skills to enhance their personal and professional success, including time management, study skills, typing skills, and soft skills.
Students worked in teams to compete each week to win points – which they earned by having excellent participation, the best business pitch, and more. At the end of the six-week program, the team with the most points won basketball tickets to the Syracuse vs. Colgate men’s basketball game. Throughout the tournament, teams could also win prizes including snacks and movie passes. At the end of the tournament, students with perfect attendance were entered into a drawing, with the winner – ELMS 6th grader Ransom Evans – receiving a free laptop!
Thank you to the Syracuse University students who took the time to share this valuable curriculum with our students – and way to go, students, for taking the initiative to help yourselves become college, career, and life ready through participating in the Skills Win! curriculum!
