POWERGRAMS

100% CONNECTED A Class Act Photos by Bill Snow Em ployees vo lunteering in Anniston cl assrooms Anniston employees mentor students at middle school. In everyday life, there are always obstacles. But, as Keisha Chapman points out, "It's all about your attitude and how you deal with things. Failure is not an option." That is among the life-building messages Chapman and 11 other employees are sharing this year with sixth-graders at Anniston Middle School. Chapman, a customer service representative at the Anniston Office, chairs their project sponsored by the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO). Since the beginning of the school year, as part of the school's Class Act program, members of Alabama Power's team have met every Tuesday at 8:15 a.m. with Coach Sam Green's class.   APSO's Eastern Division Chapter volunteers include Patricia Armour, customer service representative; Salena Cook, market specialist; Debbie Davis, customer service representative; retiree James Glover; Loretta Hanna, Risk Management supervisor; Brandon Johnson, engineer; Kisha Linley, Anniston Accounting Services manager; Latoya Miller, customer service representative; Alphonso Newton, Transmission lineman; Joe Tillery, Distribution specialist; and Kiyunda Smoot, supervisor- Anniston Office. The 4 company volunteers share their personal experiences and lessons from the book "Success for Teens." The goal of Class Act is for volunteers to foster ethics and teach character and responsibility by serving as strong role models for the students. Chapman's team emphasizes values such as respect, honesty, fairness, compassion, civility, courage and kindness. The project is a big commitment, Chapman said, but volunteers are from a cross section of the company, which allows them to avoid missing simultaneous work that coincides with the weekly 45-minute sessions. Alabama Power employees are among about 50 business, civic and community volunteers serving in Class Act during the 2013-2014 school year. In October, for instance, Chapman and Cook talked with students about preventing bullying. "Salena gave them the quote, 'My integrity is more important than my popularity,' which has remained on the board in their room," Chapman said. "We jumped on this topic really hard, and explained to the students how important it is not to bully. At the same time, if you're witnessing someone being bullied, you're just as guilty as the person doing it." Employees quickly see the results of the mentoring sessions, said Chapman, who has served in the program for three years. At the start of the year, she said, students are often bashful and hesitate to share their ideas, while some are disrespectful or not interested in hearing employee viewpoints. However, trust grows as the team spends more time with the class. "We can see the kids wanting to do more and be more," she said. "The men in our group are awesome. They reach out to the younger guys and try to make them see, 'Hey, you can be me someday.' It's not always easy. They tell the students that you sometimes have to start with small steps to get to where you need to be in life. Your attitude will take you a long way. You've got to have a mindset you can do it, and keep at it." Those are lessons Chapman shares with her own children, Vnonte, 22, Vanasia, a 17-year-old high school junior, and Vonquel, who is 10 and a third-grader. She recognizes it is important to children's confidence to be around positive adults. Linley enjoys seeing students' personal growth. "There's a lot of bonding, and you get to know the students by the end of the year," she said. For Chapman, the class gets "better and better" each week. "Their whole attitude changes," she said. "If we only touch one person in the classroom, we have made a real accomplishment. I love this program." By Donna Cope

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