Omaha's Blackburn Alternative Program earns $2,500 for career champions
For our Cash in for Schools program, in partnership with Medical Solutions, KETV awarded Blackburn Alternative Program $2,500.
For our Cash in for Schools program, in partnership with Medical Solutions, KETV awarded Blackburn Alternative Program $2,500.
For our Cash in for Schools program, in partnership with Medical Solutions, KETV awarded Blackburn Alternative Program $2,500.
Dozens of seniors at Blackburn Alternative Program in Omaha are going to have a better chance of envisioning their future.
"Every day, we create habits and choose things we're familiar with," said school counselor Dr. Suzi Vokley-Busby. "This opens up the whole world for our students to know somebody and go somewhere in the community that hasn't been afforded before."
Vokley-Busby is referring to Blackburn's College and Career Champions program.
On Monday, in partnership with Medical Solutions, KETV awarded the Blackburn Alternative Program $2,500 as part of the Cash in for Schools initiative.
Students like Larrick Harris, a senior at Blackburn, will see direct benefits.
"At a regular school, there are more kids and distractions," Harris said. "But here, there are less distractions and it's easier to focus on things you need to get done."
Harris is part of the College and Career Champions program, along with about 35 other seniors.
It gives them a chance to go out into the community and meet with colleges, businesses, or other programs they can take advantage of after graduating high school.
The money will help pay for travel, visits, meals, and other things needed to help students explore opportunities after high school.
Harris plans to go into real estate, but wants to get his foot in the door by learning about heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC, through Metro Community College.
Before coming to Blackburn, he said he didn't have any plans to go to college.
"When you connect with people, it's a deeper connection than just hearing about it," Harris said. "You might be more inspired by people who're actually doing it than just hearing about it."
Blackburn's student body is primarily made of students from the foster care system, group homes, juvenile justice system, or child protective services.
According to Vokley-Busby, 65% of students do not live with their birth families.
"Sometimes we take for granted believing for somebody else what they might not believe for themselves is one of the greatest things we can do," Vokley-Busby said. "The College and Career Champions program has offered that for us as adults as well as the kids."
If you know a teacher or education professional who could use $2,500 to change the lives of children, click here to make a submission for the Cash in for Schools Program.