POWERGRAMS

9 APSO APSO chapters across state help kids to brighter future Using a little ingenuity, the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) is helping deliver the business world to many youngsters in Mobile and Birmingham. During the past 20 years, Alabama Power and APSO have supported Junior Achievement (JA) with activities ranging from bowling fundraisers to judging speech contests for schools. By working with JA, APSO members have given many students a bird's-eye view into entrepreneurship and careers. The work by Mobile and Magic City APSO volunteers for Causey Middle School and several Birmingham city schools could have ground to a halt because of the pandemic. But dedicated APSO members came up with new ways to maintain contact with students. The show must go on Thanks to Mobile APSO JA chair Holly Campbell and her team's willingness to "think outside the box" during the pandemic, Causey Middle Schoolers are learning the importance of being career-ready. In 2020, Campbell and other Mobile APSO members worked inside the classroom with Causey eighth graders. But COVID-19 changed that. "The school had to stop our presentations," the Mobile Division Power Delivery engineer said. During spring 2020, to continue those lessons, Campbell videoed 30-minute teaching segments with Mobile APSO's Joyce Boshell, Dylan Johnson, Drew Odom and Justin Phillips. Colleen DeVoe, who is JA district program manager in Mobile, shared the lesson tapes with schools in Baldwin and Mobile counties. During the past 13 years, DeVoe has recruited and trained more than 200 business volunteers per year, including Mobile APSO volunteers. "I sent the videos of Alabama Power employees to all the schools, so they were still able to have programs," said DeVoe. "I'm so happy we could share these with other schools." To be more relatable to students, Campbell made sure Mobile APSO's JA team represents different backgrounds and professions. APSO volunteers tackle business themes, such as personal branding; career paths and clusters; high-growth careers; career mapping; the job hunt; and soft skills. Campbell is excited to share her path to success in engineering with many seventh and eighth graders. "I'm in a math-based field, but I also have a very strong, customer-based job," said Campbell, who earned a civil engineering degree at the University of South Alabama. "There's a lot of me giving bits and pieces of my story. I talk about finding those things you enjoy and you're good at, and how those apply to you in school. "I tell them that any time you want to be in a leadership position, you must have strong communication skills," added Campbell, a JA volunteer for four years. Campbell and other Mobile APSO members enjoy their interactions with students, especially being able to encourage them and share ideas. "Junior Achievement offers these students to connect and drive their direction of their life the next four years in high school," Campbell said. "I most enjoy the input and being able to share life skills and real-life experiences and how to apply them to their life, especially before students go into high school." Volunteering in JA is even more special to Campbell because she's been able to talk with students at her old middle school. Causey Middle School history teacher Melissa Motes, who oversees the JA program, taught Campbell "many moons ago." "We have a whole history together, and I knew Mrs. Motes very well," Campbell said. "We work great together. When I tell students, 'I have literally been in your place,' I mean it. I've sat in class with this teacher. I tell them, 'You're going to leave this classroom and you're going to have a really long journey in school and learning.'" Bringing the magic to Birmingham students Magic City APSO provided a 10-member team to assist Birmingham City Schools. Similar to Mobile APSO, Jennifer Crowson and other Magic City members struggled to find projects to assist in the community, while considering the safety of schoolchildren and APSO members. Magic City volunteers have found that Zoom works well for sharing JA programs with students. Though Magic City volunteers would like to return to classroom presentations, for now, virtual programming is the best option, said Crowson, a financial analyst at Corporate Headquarters. "We wanted to do something that's deemed

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