Power of Good

PowerofGood.com | Summer 2014 3 Council, spoke about the impor- tance of workforce development. "We understand the challenges with workforce development and we also understand that there is a lot of great work happening throughout the state," he said. "The goal of the Alabama Workforce Council is to unify all of these efforts so that we can have an even greater impact." Having an even greater impact on education is one of the reasons the foundation is trying a new ap- proach, according to Alabama Power Foundation President John Hudson. Investing the foundation's dollars in those areas will build stronger communities and help children get the skills they need to succeed, said Hudson, vice president of Public Relations and Charitable Giving. Crosswhite said parents, grand- parents, educators, the business community and nonprofit sector all must be involved to get better schools. "It's going to take everyone working together to make sure our children get the right kind of educa- tion," he said. Bice said the new vision for Alabama's K-12 schools is for every child to be a graduate, and for every graduate to be prepared for college, work and adulthood in the 21st century. One of the greatest challenges to that vi- sion is poverty, he said. This past year, public schools served 95 million lunches to children, and 64 percent were free to low-income students. Education is the answer to poverty, and it starts with quality pre-kindergarten, Bice said. Brighter Minds will support 4-year-olds in high-need communi- ties and engage students through quality summer learning programs that will decrease the learning gap between poor and high-achieving schools and the need for remedial education. Pay for quality early edu- cation now, Bice said, "or pay for it forever in our prisons. Because that's where dropouts end up." Brighter Minds also will put funds into classrooms to help students learn about conservation and stewardship. Through the new Students to Stewards program, foundation grants will go to teachers to develop courses on environmen- tal education and to build outdoor classrooms. "We see kids come alive when they're hands-on in the natural world," said Tim Gothard, execu- tive director of the Alabama Wildlife Federation and a panelist at the education summit. Other panelists were Philip Cleveland, director of the Office of Career and Technical Education/ Workforce Development for the state education department; Mar- quita Davis, executive director of the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity; and Jeana Ross, commis- sioner of the state De- partment of Children's Affairs. Finally, Brighter Minds will help students on the way to college or the workforce. Sup- port for STEM education will allow more students to pursue highly lucrative careers in the fields of sci- ence, technology, engineering and math, while workforce development scholarships will reward those who opt for good-paying careers in tech- nical fields and skilled trades. Alabama Power officials believe Brighter Minds will increase the positive effect the company has on education, which will benefit the state and Alabama Power. "We have a saying at Alabama Power that if it's good for the people of Alabama, it's good for the com- pany," Crosswhite said. Alabama Power Chairman, CEO and President Mark Crosswhite says everyone must get involved for the state's schools to improve.

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