Sep 142011
admin
Sep 142011
As a last minute change, workplace sensitivity expert Genie Sockel, has agreed to present her career perspective to students at Grady High School. We are lucky to have get Genie jump in on short notice.
Genie has worked as a employment litigator at one of the nation’s top employment law firms. She now runs Akamai Sensitivity Training. She helps managers who may not be aware of the impact of their communication and behavior on their colleagues and subordinates.
For students, misplaced humor, sometimes heard in their own homes, can easily blow a job interview and make the difference between success and failure. Look for Genie’s talk to be posted in the coming days.
Also, we’ve been fortunate to receive support from Atlanta-based Prommis Solutions. Prommis recently provided marketing support, logistics and technical support for the launch of our website, GradyTalks.org. Prommis Solutions is a leading provider of technology-enabled knowledge processing services for the management and resolution of defaulting residential mortgages, including home retention, REO closing and other mortgage-related services. We are grateful for their support.
Sep 132011
We’d like to see everyone at Grady graduate on time! Plus, we’d like to see all students go on to college and then on to meaningful careers.
For the 2009-2010 school year, Grady High School reported a 91.6% graduation rate. That’s well above the APS average of 66.3%, the Georgia average of 80.8%, and the national rate of 69%. Now, we’ve learned that the new superintendent, Erroll Davis, has just ordered an audit of graduation rates after the discovery of 18 APS students who were incorrectly coded as graduates.
Also, the state has changed their reporting method to be consistent with other states and some fear the new graduation rate will not look as favorable.
Nationally, 70.1% of high school grads enrolled in college (in 2009).
Sep 122011
This week Joy Goodman kicks off the twice monthly speakers series for Grady Talks. Joy spoke to a class at Grady High School last year and told some inspiring stories of her years as an educator. In this quick excerpt from her talk, she shows her skill at “turning lemons into lemonade” in handling a child with stage fright.
Sep 072011
Watch live streaming video from gradytalks at livestream.com
Sep 062011
Now that Liz Lieberman and Dave Walker have started the Grady Talks Classes at Grady High, I thought it would be great to see some of the greatest moments from last year’s Grady Talks. Here is Chris Webber talking about your career dreams and how to make them a reality.Aug 312011
Today, Liz Lieberman and Dave Walker worked with 14 Grady High students. This small group was hand-picked by one of the Grady academy heads. Liz and Dave are providing career counseling with these kids on a monthly basis.
In September, we’ll begin the program of bringing in a total of 18 business leaders. Liz and these speakers will present to two Grady classes and try to connect high school education with getting a meaningful and prosperous career.
Also this year, Liz will hold monthly “Lunch and Learn” sessions at the school’s career center.
Planning your career? Here is a great resource that we found which lays out 26 career pathways into 6 focus Areas:
- Applied Arts and Communications
- Business & Management
- Health Services
- Human Services
- Industrial & Engineering Systems
- Natural Resource Systems
Here is a quote from the new Atlanta Public School Superintendent, Erroll Davis:
“What we have found out is that while students drop out in high school, the decision to drop out is often made in middle school.“
Aug 292011
Check out gradytalks.org !
We are proud to announce the launch of our new website. Now you’ll be able to keep up with our fledgling non-profit organization. Check out our Board of Directors (For Talk About Your Future, Inc.) our Sponsors and Donors, our Speakers, our Video Gallery (and Part 2), our Calendar of Events (okay, it’s coming soon).
Speaking of donors, we’ve also added a Donate Now button! Please consider supporting our efforts and add your name to our list.
So now you can find us at gradytalks.org, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Vimeo, Four Square, and You Tube.
Aug 232011
Grady Talks is a growing group of Atlanta business professionals who are committed to helping high school students get career-focused. Some have suggested that getting career-focused may increase a student’s chance of finishing school.
Along the way we learned about the problem of high dropout rates, especially among minority students. We read that the leading cause of dropping out is the feeling that “Classes are Not Interesting.” And, we’ve heard frustration that there has been no consistency in the way numbers are reported.
Here are were things are in Georgia. We found that there are three common ways to compute graduation rates.
- The Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (Georgia Rate for 2007-08: 65.4%)
- The “Leaver” Method (Georgia Rate for 2009-10: 80.8% )
- The Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (To Be Used for 2010-2011)
Georgia used the lever rate to calculate the numbers and the Governor has praised the 80.8% rate released last October. But now, the state has changed their reporting method to be consistant with other states and some fear the new graduation rate will not look as favorable.
Aug 192011
Our top focus at Grady Talks is to get business professionals in front of students, sharing lessons they learned on the job. We want to get kids career-focused. A week after getting the class schedule, 17 people have stepped up and volunteered to ignite the dreams of young people in Atlanta. Congratulations to Liz for finding great speakers! Do you think it may be time to expand the program?
- September 15, 2011 – Joy Goodman – Founder – Express Yourself with Joy
- September 16 – Jae Brown – CDC – Emergency Management Specialist, Centers for Disease Control
- October 13 Jeff Johnson – Emmy Award Winning On-Air Talent/President/Executive Producer at JJE Inc.
- October 14 Lawrence Toner – VP Operations/Project Services/Productions at Turner Broadcasting
- November 10 Amani Channel – Sr. Producer at KEF Media Associates
- November 11 Don Walter – Principal at Walter Shefer Group
- December 8 Carrie Whitney – Independent PR Consultant
- December 9 Arnold Evans -Managing Director at Suntrust Robinson Humphrey
- January 5, 2011 Jeff Reeves – Author and Human Resources Executive
- January 6 Edwin Link – Director of Program Management, Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center
- February 2 – Tonya Freeman – Education Specialist – Centers for Disease Control
- February 3 – Suzy Blough – International Educator
- March 1 – Kim Kurtis – Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Tech
- March 2 Paul Snyder – VIce President, Corporate Responsibility and Public Affairs for the Americas, Intercontinental Hotels Group
- March 28 Denis Brosnan – CEO Prommis Solutions
- March 29 – THIS TIME SLOT IS AVAILABLE
- April 26 – LaShawn Cartwright – Senior Recruitment Consultant, Chick-Fil-A
- April 27 – Greg O’Donnell recent UGA grad, Grady Grad – Interning until March with ECOLAND in Beijing
Please consider getting involved by either offering to speak, getting on a committee, or making a donation. Contact us at gary@gradytalks.com or liz@gradytalks.com.