AT&T and Baltimore HS Students Team Up For Career Building Event!

Baltimore-area high school students are getting a first-hand look at career opportunities beyond high school, thanks to Junior Achievement of Central Maryland and AT&T’s Aspire Mentoring Academy. On November 18 and November 19, AT&T and JA are teaming up to help 150 students from the area make the connection between school and the workplace.

On November 18 at 9:30 a.m., students from the following high schools will participate in the job-shadowing program: Franklin High School, Baltimore County; Randallstown High School, Baltimore County; Ben Franklin, Baltimore City; and Excel Academy, Baltimore City.

On November 19 at 9:30 a.m., AT&T and JA will welcome students from Frederick Douglass High School and Forest Park High School in Baltimore City.

The programs will take place at AT&T’s corporate offices at 7229 Parkway Drive in Hanover, where students will have the opportunity to learn about various careers within the company and in the telecommunications industry and practice workplace readiness skills with AT&T employees.

Aspire Mentoring Academy is AT&T’s nationwide mentoring program that aims to address the nation’s dropout crisis and broaden students’ awareness about career opportunities in their own communities. Through its Aspire Mentoring Academy, AT&T is helping to raise high school graduation rates by providing students one million hours of mentoring by AT&T employees through the end of 2016. The program is part of AT&T Aspire, one of the nation’s largest corporate commitments focused on helping more students graduate from high school ready for college and careers.

“Our collaboration with Junior Achievement provides these Baltimore students career exploration activities that help motivate them to stay in school and achieve meaningful careers,” said Robert Forsyth, vice president and general manager for AT&T in the greater Washington/Baltimore area. “We have developed a strong relationship over the years with JA to provide these job shadowing opportunities in Baltimore and nationwide.”

In addition to events like Aspire Mentoring Academy, AT&T also has made contributions to local programs focused on high school success and workforce readiness.

For example, as part of AT&T Aspire, AT&T announced a major, multi-year contribution to Center for Supportive Schools (CSS), a nationally recognized peer mentoring and dropout prevention program in nine schools in the City of Baltimore, including Academy for College and Career Exploration; Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women; Carver Vocational-Technical High School; Coppin Academy High School; Digital Harbor High School; Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School; Paul Laurence Dunbar High School; Patterson High School; and Reginald F. Lewis High School of Business & Law.

And, last week, AT&T announced a $10,000 contribution to Code in the Schools in Baltimore to support a local STEM summit that brought together 75 middle and high schools girls from Baltimore City interested in STEM education. These young women spent the day attending workshops, watching product demonstrations, and participating in panel discussions with innovative leaders and organizations.