Blueprint Education
Glendale, AZ

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Blueprint Education Updates

Blueprint Education has a TON of good news to share, read on…

Board update: After six dedicated years of community service to Blueprint Education we bid Steve Gilbert farewell. Steve spent two terms representing the board at high school graduations, eighth grade promotions, planning committees and a major contributor with lively ideas, thoughtful discussions and heartfelt passion at board meetings. Steve graciously accepted a seat on our Advisory Board so we're not letting him get too far.

Hiring news: Please welcome Allison Fischer (Math Teacher at Hope High School) and Krissyn Sumare(Instructional Coach at Hope High School). Allison has a B.S., in Science and Education from Western Michigan University majoring in Math and Spanish and a Master's degree in Science in Education majoring in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Phoenix Online. Krissyn is an Arizona native graduating from Grand Canyon University with a B.S. in Secondary Education a Master's degree in Administration and Supervision in Education and a second Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction.

Words of inspiration from Hope High School Instructional Coach Krissyn Sumare: "I believe that if you "Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, then you help them become what they are capable of becoming." - Goethe. I believe that all students are capable of achieving academic success, if they have teachers that also believe the same principle. In fact, my educational philosophy is built on the theory that "When we provide our students with positive academic relationships, we are able to bridge any retention crisis and reduce achievement gaps in their educational experiences."

As we complete the first year of our AmeriCorps VISTA grant we would like thank Liz Roed for her work and summarize the progress we have made as shared by COO Mark French.

Blueprint Education has assisted under-served students since 1969; however, we only recently identified the need to increase our impact by involving community members. Participation in the Americorps VISTA program through Hands On Greater Phoenix was the organization's first major effort to magnify our community impact through volunteers and fund development.

In March of 2012, Americorps VISTA Liz Roed joined our team. At that time Blueprint Education had only a few volunteers in our schools. Today those schools benefit from twenty volunteers who will provide over 1,500 hours of service by June 2013. With help from Liz, we conducted a needs assessment, developed a volunteer infrastructure, and recruited volunteers in each of our schools.

Needs Analysis: Liz conducted multiple meetings with stake holders at each of our sites to identify the community resources and external support needed to move our students from "high school to high skills". The results of the needs analysis was presented to the leadership team at Blueprint Education and shared with the board of directors. Liz identified the top needs for each school and developed volunteer intervention plans accordingly.

Volunteer Infrastructure: After the needs were identified, the resource development team organized to build capacity utilizing volunteer efforts designed to address the needs. Liz compiled a list of best practices of nonprofits in the Valley. The team developed policies and procedures to ensure that volunteer efforts were safe, productive, and rewarding. Applications, job descriptions, and training documents, were developed for our volunteers. Training was also developed for supervision of volunteers. Forms and procedures were put into place to track volunteer hours and to thank them for their efforts.

Volunteer Recruitment: Our VISTA led the way in identifying agencies that could place volunteers on our campus. In addition the resource development team crafted volunteer recruitment postings and developed strategies to attract volunteers passionate about helping under-served communities. The result has been tremendous. Community volunteers have been placed in each of our schools resulting in increased capacity and community involvement.

Liz's major achievement was to create a volunteer program for Blueprint Education. The foundation has been prepared and volunteers are in place. Liz has also completed research on how to implement a fund development initiative which is the next step for Blueprint to magnify community impact and build capacity.

Kudos to Hope High School staff from interim Principal Jennifer Blackstone. "I wanted to let you know that the Hope High School staff KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK this week. In preparing for the Solution Team visit tomorrow, the school rallied to post school and classroom rules, write and post learning objectives in classrooms, and just do a general cleanup of the school. In walking the school this evening I am thinking... they are ROCKSTARS! Kudos HHS staff -- job well done!"

More good news from Blueprint High School Principal Anthony Scanio. "We did it! We have officially hit 75 students today. On August 1st, 2011, my first day at BHS with students, we had 25 students. I was told our goal was to reach 75 students. Well, together, our team has done a great job of creating a culture and climate that has encouraged students and the community to want to place students at BHS. And so, just three semesters later we have basically tripled our student population and reached that goal of 75. THAT IS JUST FANTASTIC! We are a great team and we still have work to do to continue our successes, but I just wanted to pause and say thank you to all who have helped in this process. So, THANK YOU!!!"

Arizona Gives Day is coming on March 20th 2013. Arizona Gives Day is a day for Arizonans to come together to make donations to as many nonprofits as possible in 24 hours. On March 20th, 2013 from 12:00 am to 11:59 pm, supporters of Arizona nonprofits will go online, connect with causes they care about, and make tax-deductible donations. The donation stays local and helps our nonprofit community provide much needed services in the state of Arizona. Help spread the word which will directly generate contributions to Blueprint Education resulting in students earning their diploma while preparing them for the skilled workforce.

Best,
Doug

Blueprint Education programs and courses provide quality standards for sound educational programs established by several accrediting agencies. The NCA and AdvancED accreditation covers Blueprint Education educational courses in all six North American accrediting regions as well as internationally. Blueprint Education is also certified as a Distance Education Provider by the State of Arizona.