The Social Studies 2.0 – Life Skills class  – mantra has and continues to be

“EVERY PERSON HAS A BRAND,
i.e. THE PERCEPTION OTHERS HAVE OF YOU.

GREAT BRANDS CREATE GREAT NETWORKS.

NETWORKS OF SUCCESSFUL, INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE
HELP US THROUGHOUT LIFE
IF
THEY HAVE A POSITIVE PERCEPTION  OF OUR BRAND.

LIFETIME SUCCESS IS OFTEN DETERMINED BY
THE QUALITY OF THE BRAND AND NETWORK.”

Today’s class featured a panel of successful professionals
from a diverse field of professions:
medicine, counseling, psychology, engineering, higher education, and administration.

Today’s Panel of Successful, Influential professionals

The class began with each panelist introducing themself with a brief story of where they’re from and the success they now enjoy and concluded with NETWORKING among guests and students over a catered LUNCH.

Central High School senior, Alonnie Stoval, exchanges her business card with Doctor Jamall Pollock, Associate Dean at Brown University.

Victoria Mealer-Flowers is the Student-Athlete Development Senior Manager, Community Engagement and DEI programs at Brown University networking with Central High School senior Henry Pardo and Nurisbel Santana as Alonnie Stoval joins their conversation during the networking lunch.

Engineer Yemi Onipede networks with a ‘fist bump’ with Angel and Diego Cortez while Central High School senior Chris Feliz looks to Hamid Akinfolarin, a Civil Engineer.

Doctor Yvorn Aswad, medical doctor who received his degree from UCLA and a native of South Central Los Angeles who now makes his home in Providence, Rhode Island, shares his personal story with the Central High students.

Luckson Omoaregba, the Director of Pathway Programs at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, networks with Central High School seniors Chris Feliz and Angel.

Here’s a more complete biography of each member of our Professionals panel:

1      Please tell me ONE thing you took from our conversation with Jeshua Zapata today.  It could be something you learned;  something that inspired you;  something that made you think about the future you aspire to.   Send your answer to my email address before 11:59pm, Wednesday, March 11, 2020.

2.   Meg Stowe, the Director of Innovation at Rocky Hill Country Day, has invited YOU and ME to a special event, i.e.Venture Cafe’s Hack Education Connect on March 19 from 5pm to 8pm, at the VENTURE CAFE on 225 Dyer St in Providence.  Students from a number of area schools will be part of in-depth conversations within small groups about their successes and challenges in and out of school.  Students will lead the discussion groups.  The format will be similar to our FUTURE FORUM. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN GOING??  yes or no.  IF YES, WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEAD A GROUP DISCUSSION OF SEVERAL STUDENTS?   More details will be coming next week.  YOU MUST HAVE TRANSPORTATION FOR GETTING TO THE CAFE AND GETTING HOME.   PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GO BY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020.   SHOULD BE A GREAT EVENT;  YOUR DECISION WILL BE SOMETHING SIMILAR TO WHAT JESHUA DID BY PUSHING OUT OF HIS COMFORT ZONE WHEN HE ENROLLED AT BRYANT UNIVERSITY.  A LEARNING EXPERIENCE.

Johnny Montanez sharing his success story with today’s Hope High Life Skills students.

Today’s guest was Johnny Montanez,

former Hope Life Skills student, 2010 Hope High graduate, and presently the CEO of Coin Theory Media Group, a United States based multimedia production company, specializes in producing Cinematic Commercial Content for business owners across the North American region including Canada and Mexico.

Today’s host was Elliott Burrell,

aspiring music and film producer.

Elliott Burrell (red sweatshirt) welcomes Johnny Montanez back to Hope High School and the Life Skills class prior to the beginning of today’s class.

Elliott introduces Johnny to his classmates to begin today’s class.

Following Elliott’s introduction, Innocent Byiringiro leads the procession of students introducing themselves and welcoming Johnny back to Hope Life Skills.

Johnny begins his story from his Providence Washington Park neighborhood to his personal brand building journey and networking of hip hop stars, film producers, fashion designers, entrepreneurs, millionaire business people, and DOCTORS.

“We cannot let where we come from define who we can be! 

The past two classes have focused on writing a great resume.

We often speak about in the Hope Life Skills program

the importance of storytelling.  

Job interviews, networking events, and pushing out of our comfort zone to meet new people are just a few examples of opportunities for sharing our personal stories with others to create opportunities for success.   A resume is another example of an opportunity to tell one’s story for

creating opportunities for personal success.

Ms Nuri observes members of the Hope Life Skills class creating their resumes within the friendly confines Mr Cliff Boyle’s computer lab.

Mr Boyle advises Lydia Watson on formatting her resume.

Mr Cronin and Lydia review Lydia’s completed resume. Lydia then sent a pdf of her resume to the corporate offices of CVS Health for her upcoming interview for a paid summer internship at this $200 billion dollar, international company.  Lydia is interested in an internship working in the E-Commerce of Beauty/Cosmetics products.   Sounds interesting. Best wishes for success to Lydia.

Today’s guest was Raymond Perez,

Hope High School and Hope Life Skills graduate and Syracuse University senior.

Today’s Life Skills class host was Juan Severino.

Juan Severino (left) welcomes Raymond back to Hope High School before the start of today’s class.

Juan introduces Raymond to his classmates to start today’s class.

Following Juan’s introduction, students individually introduce themselves and welcome Raymond to the Life Skills class. Omarya Corporan starts the process.

Raymond begins to share his personal story with the students.  He spoke about how he dealt with his family setbacks in high school, how he applied for scholarships that ended paying for most of his tuition and room and board costs in college, his networking in a predominantly Caucasian university, his experience as the manager of the Syracuse University women’s basketball team, the college courses he’s taking in data analytics, his present plan to go to graduate school, and his plan to be a successful, well paid professional.

“I’ve learned a few lessons since my days at Hope High. 

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is ‘NO EXCUSES’!