Drs. Helen and Eugene Richardson are at the beginning stages of a new non-profit arm of Career Consciousness, Find Your Wings Camp. Planned as a state-of-the-art career camp that combines the most sophisticated educational methodologies, mentoring and parental connection and sports to create a holistic environment for student self-discovery.
The two major goals for youth who attend: find one thing they are passionate about; and use that passion to help motivate them. The mission is to help youth stay in school, leverage their passion to learn academic subjects, and to help them find connections in careers. Drs. Helen and Eugene Richardson envision the camp as an intervention to improve the disparities in high school graduation rates of minority youth and to improve possibilities of postsecondary education. It will also address the current first year college drop-out rate of approximately 40% among all students. In effect, this camp is meant to stir up an underlying motivation for youth to pursue paths that bring them satisfaction as well as a living.
Because the camp will be multi-ethnic and multi-socioeconomic (ideally, a demographic mix of 50% people of color and 50% white groups), it fulfills a parallel key purpose, to create opportunities for youth to dialogue, question and develop a greater understanding of each others heritage so that they may celebrate and leverage differences and find places of common ground. Gaining comfort and appreciation for our multi-cultural world is critical for success in our rapidly changing global economy of which these youth will play a role.
Mission Statement
To inspire a life of caring, courage, risk taking, laughter and to support youth to recognize their legacies and find themselves.
A. Program Aspects
1. Career/life overnight camp experience for youth ages 9-13 yrs. old
2. Sessions to be 2 weeks in duration - 3 sessions per season
3. Recruitment from Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs
4. Youth to be from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, as well as, varying socioeconomic levels
5. Individuals unable to pay will be provided with scholarships
6. Ideally it will be located in a traditional camp setting convenient to the tri-state area
B. Core Features of the Camp
1. Career Decision Making and Learning about Work
- individual and group experiences designed to help shape a different understanding about what work can be – joy, personal fulfillment, contribution, service, etc.
- introduction to basic concepts of career decision making
- learning about people and work through conversations with mentors who have a passion for what they do and are good at it
- group and individual projects guided by mentors
- learning about gifts and talents and how they connect to various careers
- hands on experiences to identify multiple intelligences
- sports activities – swimming, boating, hiking, etc.
- facilitated discussions to learn about different perspectives on life, race, goals, expectations, etc.
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2. Connecting Activities
- connection with community based organization where student can continue identified passion after the camp is over
- parental education to help reinforce concepts learned in camp – newsletter with career tips
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C. Anticipated Benefits
1. Students will have a more positive perspective on what work can be for them -they will learn “to work not just to make a living, but to work to make a life” (Eric Butterworth)
2. Students will have greater clarity in determining options for post-secondary education
3. Students will be less likely to drop out of college and less likely to end up with college loans that are hard to repay
4. Students will learn about entrepreneurship as an option
5. Students will take seriously the opportunity to learn who they are
6. Students might opt to take a year off before college and just explore different options for them such as the Peace Corp, City Year, etc.
7. Parents will have greater confidence in their investment in post-secondary education that it will truly reap rewards
Dr. Eugene Richardson
If you have ever heard Dr. Eugene Richardson, Jr. talk about his love for flying and how that love led him to become a Tuskegee Airman – the first all African American pilots of World War II, you understand the power of passion. Eugene is the familiar face at many events as he fulfills his role as chairman of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Tuskegee Airman Speakers Bureau. Passion has its own energy and it helps us to persist in spite of obstacles. Persistence that is the signature strength of this Tuskegee Airman and co-director of Find Your Wings.
Following his service, Eugene engaged another passion-math and science-and spent 35 years as both teacher and principal within the Philadelphia School System. He built a legacy of students who learned to love math because Eugene was their teacher. Eugene was also an innovator, as principal of one of the early experimental schools AMY 2 Alternative Middle Years. His love and understanding of youth is so evident when he is with his four amazing grandchildren, ages 4, 6, 7, and 8.
Out of respect and admiration for his wife’s vision and determination Eugene decided to join her in developing a camp experience for youth to discover their passion. The camp is called “Find Your Wings.” The mission of Find Your Wings is dedicated to Eugene’s example - To inspire a life of caring, courage, risk taking, laughter and to support youth to recognize their legacies and find themselves.
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