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It's the season again, the new academic year upon us and we’re excited to announce that we'll be returning to the classroom this month. This year we will be working with more partner schools than ever before, partnering with 22 schools, and supporting more than 800 young immigrants this fall.
We’re excited to be back in the classroom working with our youth like Melat (below). This last year impacted our youth exponentially harder than most, cutting off a vital lifeline they had to immerse themselves in their new home, to make new friends, to feel like they belong. We know that there will be a significant learning loss for our youth compared to their peers and many of our youth simply won’t be there, having dropped out to support their families, or simply struggled to enroll during the past year.
However, we are prepared for what the new year brings us, we believe we can adapt to this new environment and continue to support the most vulnerable among us as they return to school and continue their education.
{!Contact.FirstName}, thanks to your generosity and belief in our mission, we can ensure our youth are not left behind!
Best wishes,
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Youth Spotlight: Melat, Ethiopia
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This quarter's Youth Spotlight shines bright on Melat, who spent her summer interning at the Energy, Climate, & Compliance Division of the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection.
Hear what Melat had to say below:
"My name is Melat (May-lot), I am a sophomore at Springbrook High School and my goal after school is to become an Aerospace or Environmental Engineer. I hope to give a new point of view within these fields as a person of color, woman, and immigrant. I’d love to make an impact on who tech is aimed at and explore how it can be used to help protect our environment.
I wanted to participate in Opportunities Plus this summer to participate in something that I could learn from and apply in the future. I am happy to say I was able to do just that. I also wanted some experience in a real professional setting and work that could, and would, have quantitative applications in the future.
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The internship process was very eye-opening. Before applying to my internship, I had heard about resumes and cover letters but had never actually created my own. Having someone edit and look over my cover letters and resume during LP’s Job Skills Workshop was especially helpful, as they noticed many things I had entirely missed and suggested additions I would not have thought of. During the interview process, I was somewhat nervous. I was offered three positions but ended up choosing the Department of Environmental Protection as my host site, mostly due to my interest in conserving the environment as well as the welcoming nature of my interviewer, and later, supervisor.
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While interning, I worked on several projects and tasks. One of my favorites was an article I wrote educating readers on storm-water pollution and how they could prevent it in their day-to-day lives. As a part of this article, I was able to help a group of elementary school children paint a storm drain to increase awareness of the issue, which I really enjoyed. I was also able to help organize Active Aging Week, a week dedicated to celebrating active living and aging. I was especially focused on the events that would make up the week as well as reaching out to several organizations for potential partnerships. To add to my outreach tasks, I helped reach out to many villages and apartment complexes within Montgomery County to hold workshops/Zooms on different energy-related topics. I also had the opportunity to create a two-pager directed towards Montgomery County residents to encourage them to be more energy efficient that discussed the energy uses and monthly costs of several home appliances and electronics.
The opportunity to work in a professional setting and see the work done within the Department and Montgomery Energy Connections was extremely helpful. It really helped me build on my time management skills as well as my writing and communication. I would definitely say that my communication has vastly improved since I started working there. I also think I’ve become much better at marketing myself and who I am as a person, especially during the application process.
This internship not only taught me how to create my own resumes and cover letters and the structures of each, but it also has helped prepare me for the communication that would be needed in a work setting. The interview process was also extremely helpful, it really showed me the types of questions to expect and in what structure I would be expected to answer them. My email etiquette has also been much improved, which I think will be extremely helpful in the introductory process of applying to another internship, job, or program.”
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01 | Meet our 2021 Awardees
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Last month we announced our 2021 Awardees, Jonathan Jayes-Green and Carol Sigelman.
Both Awardees have shown a tremendous commitment to enacting change and advocating for our immigrant community and we are thrilled to have them as part of our Liberty's Promise family.
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02 | The Forgotten Middle
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After 15 years of leading our Civics and Citizenship programs at the high school level, this fall, we will be expanding our programming to support middle school-aged youth. This new program will see us work to prepare these young immigrants for the obstacles and opportunities that they will face in high school and beyond
To find out more, read our White Paper.
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Questions?
Contact us at info@libertyspromise.org
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