Recent News & Events

Students Get Into the Holiday Spirit

CIS of Miami students join their mentors in organizing holiday community service projects. They decorated both Thanksgiving and Christmas Donation boxes to help collect food and toys for children in need. They also created holiday greeting cards.

At the NFL Youth Education Town approximately 100 parents with their children attended a Thanksgiving Family Night Dinner, sponsored by the Gwen Cherry Foundation. Before dinner parents were entertained by student performances.

BJ's Donates $300 to Help Pregnant Teens and Teen Mothers

The BJ's in Cutler Ridge donated $300 to support activities at our Dorothy Wallace Cope Center, an alternative school for pregnant teens and teen moms. The store manager shares a great commitment to her local schools and has been a great supporter of CIS of Miami, Inc. The funds were used to purchase gift items for our Stork's Nest, a behavioral modification program where students earn points for good behavior, attendance, and grades, and for teacher appreciation day activities. "It's so wonderful to receive support from our local businesses," shared Ms. Linares, Senior Site Coordinator for the school. "BJ has always been there when I've needed them."

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

CIS of Miami students organized and participated in numerous Breast Cancer awareness activities. Guest speakers made presentations to students about breast cancer and taught students how to do their own monthly self-examinations. CIS students joined local community walks for breast cancer. For our younger students at the NFL YET, they all received pink balloons, pink ribbon pins, and walked around the block to raise awareness about breast cancer.

Slate of States & Partnerships Funding

The Department of Education released the FY2011 slate of states and partnerships that will receive funding from the federal GEAR UP program. GEAR UP, or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, delivers college access and readiness services to low-income, primarily first generation students for a 6 or 7-year period, starting no later than 7th grade. GEAR UP serves approximately 750,000 students each year, and helps students achieve at or above grade level standards, understand the college admissions process including financial aid, and graduate high school prepared for college-level coursework. Nationally, GEAR UP students apply and enroll in post-secondary education at a higher rate than their peers. We are proud to share that we partnered with Miami Dade College to submit a grant and were the only program in the state of Florida awarded the grant. We are looking forward to implementing the program in schools throughout the county. The award, shared among the partners, is for five million dollars over the next seven years.

CIS Miami Receives Building Better Lives Award

CIS of Miami was awarded the Building Better Lives Award at the annual Home Builders Institute (HBI) Construction Coaching Opportunities to Reach Employment (C-CORE) Summit in New Orleans. HBI C-CORE is a mentoring program like no other. "This unique workforce development program matches youth with promise and untapped abilities with professionals from every facet of the nation's sixth largest industry, giving these young people the opportunity to learn about home building careers from an insiders' perspective through relationships that provide them with support, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and positive examples along the way", stated Donald Pratt, Chairman of the HBI Board of Trustees.

Nationwide, every nine seconds of each school day, a young person drops out of high school in the U.S., and nearly one-third of high school students fail to graduate on time. Communities In Schools of Miami is committed to stop this national crisis. "Providing students with a caring relationship with an adult is one of the ways that we help students to stay in school and achieve in life, shared Elizabeth Mejia, Executive Director of CIS of Miami. Through a partnership with HBI, CIS of Miami matches students with professionals in the field. The high school students are transported once a month to the mentor's worksite where they not only work alongside the mentors, but they also provide personal, academic, and career mentoring. HBI, through a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, subcontracts providers across the nation to implement their C-Core mentor program. CIS of Miami lent their 15 years experience of providing school to work mentoring programs to C-Core's initiative to engage students in the home building industries. CIS of Miami excelled in launching the program, exceeding the established goals and providing meaningful experiences to 107 students thereby winning the "Building Better Lives" Award.

CIS of Miami students and mentors participated in panel presentations and were featured as examples of best practices. The students' testimonials were so powerful that a room filled with home builders and other executives were moved to tears. Additionally, CIS of Miami student, Dominique Houser, was awarded the Patsy and Herman Smith Fund Scholarship through the Home Builders Institute to assist with transportation and college expenses.

The success of the CIS of Miami school to work mentor program is due to its dedicated mentor sites that include: KW Property Management, Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation, State Farm Insurance, Miami-Dade College, US Coast Guard, and Marcum LTD. "By investing time and resources in our students, we increase the likelihood that they will make positive life choices, succeed academically and contribute to the overall betterment of our community," said Elizabeth Mejia. The program ambitious goals include doubling the number of mentees by 2013. To reach that goal, more employers and mentors are needed. To learn how you can get involve, please call (305) 252-5444 ext. 306 and join CIS of Miami in transforming students' lives.

HBI C-CORE Miami – Case Study

C-CORE Miami – Best Practices

CIS of Miami Director Receives Movers & Shakers Award

Each year, Business Leader Media honors the up-and-coming leaders of the South through their Movers & Shakers Awards. Our very own, Elizabeth Mejia, Executive Director is one of the award recipients for South Florida.

Elizabeth is being recognized for her outstanding achievement in managing CIS of Miami. Under her leadership, with the support of an outstanding board and staff, Elizabeth has been able to grow the program despite difficult economic times. Her proactive approach to management has allowed the organization to thrive. Furthermore, accountability is very important to Ms. Mejia and as such she has a track record of success in managing federal, state, and local grants. Most importantly, the program excels in meeting its mission of helping students to achieve. Over 90% of students remain in school and over 88% are making academic improvement. She has created a work environment that is not only accountable and effective, but that also nurtures and supports the staff. Movers and Shakers also recognizes her active involvement in her community. Ms. Mejia consistently gives back. She provides motivational talks to youth groups, women's retreats and serves as a Catechist and Lector at her parish.

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Communities In Schools of Miami
11965 SW 142nd Terrace #102 :: Miami, FL 33186
Phone (305) 252-5444 :: Fax (305) 252-4664