Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Bartnick.
Jessica, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I spent ten years of my career in various sales and sales management roles in Corporate America. I built, developed, and managed a coffee shop in 2008, which I sold in 2011. And towards the end of my tenure in corporate, I started feeling unfilled and that I had a bigger mission to fill. So, I did what most people do in this position, I started volunteering to ‘fill that void’. So, I started mentoring a few underserved young ladies during the second semester of their senior year of high school. I did not this through any organization, I just took the initiative to help some young ladies. And what this did for me was reinforce the idea that ‘you don’t know what you don’t know, but that these young people from low-income families that have so much promise and so much enthusiasm for their future, really don’t know what they don’t know, and don’t have the resources to receive the support that they really need. So, CHOICE Mentoring was born. I developed a structured curriculum for underserved high school students so they could receive the resources to obtain higher education. The curriculum helps walk a mentor and student through the hard process of college applications, social-emotional advancements, and interactions with local business professionals including a career shadow. I like to say, it doesn’t matter the age or stage of the mentor, the guides and worksheets help them make sure their mentee is successful in every way imaginable. Today, we support the Dallas and Plano school districts to help their low-income students receive the support that they need to achieve higher education.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In terms of student success, I couldn’t have written it more perfectly. We have a 95% college enrollment rate, each of our students average $30,000 each in college funding. And you have to keep in mind, that these students would not have the opportunity to even go to college if it was not for us. So, in terms of success, we are having unparalleled results for these kids. When you have an idea and you write it on paper, and you hope that it works, and then it comes to life, and the life grows wings, and it allows young people to soar onto heights they never dreamed possible, I would say that outweighs all of the struggles that come along. When I get to look into a young person’s eyes and they cry and say ‘thank you! Without CHOICE, I never could have done this…” it makes everything else seem like peanuts.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Foundation For C.H.O.I.C.E. story. Tell us more about the business.
Foundation For C.H.O.I.C.E. (Consider How One Individual Changes Everything), is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.
Mission Statement
By serving at-risk youth through a one-to-one mentoring program, Foundation For C.H.O.I.C.E. creates opportunities for a college education through professionally supported relationships, inspiring the student to make positive choices for their future.
Organizational Overview
Since 2014, Foundation for C.H.O.I.C.E. has provided direction to underserved high school students through the agency’s proprietary college and career readiness program, to support them in successfully navigating the transition into early adulthood and establishing a path toward reaching their potential. The agency creates a framework for success by matching underprivileged students with a volunteer mentor for a one-on-one relationship that lasts 27 weeks during each school year. Foundation For C.H.O.I.C.E. mentors students to turn education into endless possibility. In the Dallas Independent School District, 86% of students live in poverty and many lack access to basic scholastic technologies. Even more troubling, those students who are accepted into college drop out at a rate of nearly 80%. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) releases federal income eligibility guidelines for free and reduced-price school meals that Foundation For C.H.O.I.C.E. uses to determine student eligibility for acceptance into this program. An annual household income must be $26,546 or less for three people, adding an additional $5,434 per family member.
There is not one single program that offers college prep, actual business partnerships, and entrepreneurial teachings into their curriculum, as does Foundation For C.H.O.I.C.E. (FFC). The agency continues to serve this demographic by utilizing volunteer mentors, volunteer business champions, and program staff.
On average public high school counselors spend just 23% of their time on college counseling, and only 26% of public schools have at least one counselor who works exclusively on college counseling issues. In comparison, 73% of private schools have a dedicated college counselor.
Taking into consideration the decline in college acceptances, the situation becomes direr. Among the top colleges reviewed by businessstudent.com, the average admissions rate was 35.9% in 2006. By 2018, the college admissions rate had plummeted to 22.6% (a drop of 37%).
Project Description
With education at the core of Foundation For C.H.O.I.C.E’s mission, the agency aims to provide quality educational opportunities for students within the community. Consider How One Individual Changes Everything (C.H.O.I.C.E.) truly describes the mentoring focus Foundation For C.H.O.I.C.E. aims to provide for the underprivileged youth in which it serves. Foundation For C.H.O.I.C.E.’s Mentoring Program is offered to low-income youth that aide in their success as they transition from low-income high schools to any size college campus. The college retention rate of these students proves the program works and develops these students in ways they never would have had in the absence of this nonprofit, the proprietary curriculum, the student’s mentor, and the access to professional business relationships. Foundation for C.H.O.I.C.E. bridges the gap by stepping in to offer a structured, 27-week one-on-one mentoring program to ensure college and career readiness. Providing the tools and resources to at-risk youth to further their education and become a first-generation college student improves their lives in so many ways that are immeasurable. A college degree can be their ticket out of their environment and will provide a path for these young people to pass their learnings and experiences onto their children, and their grandchildren. The goals and objectives of this project are to continue to provide the same success and opportunities year after year to the underserved students in which FFC serves. The increased difficulty of college readiness and college acceptance into today’s culture is a major reason why only 14% of low-income students who enroll in college actually achieve a college degree. Hence, the need for Foundation For C.H.O.I.C.E.’s college and career prep program for underserved high school students is greater than ever.
Since FFC’s founding in 2014, over 300 high school students have been matched one-on-one with a mentor. The agency has 6 metrics that measure college readiness of high school students, which include; SAT or ACT Testing at TEA’s college-ready standards, College Acceptance, Scholarship Awards, FAFSA awards, Total college funding/student, and college retention and completion.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t really believe in luck. I believe in hard work, dedication, passion, and determination. And these things have played a role in the success of our organization so far, And having the right team to implement the mission. That is what makes the success of a program and an organization.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2904 Floyd St, Ste D, Dallas, TX 75204
- Website: www.foundationforchoice.org
- Phone: 214-442-1669
- Email: jessica.bartnick@foundationforchoice.org
- Instagram: foundation_for_c.h.o.i.c.e
- Facebook: foundationforchoice
- Twitter: choice_org
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