Kids and the Power of Work (KAPOW) brings volunteers into schools to help students connect school and work, and brings students into the workplace for real life work experiences. Casbarro developed the South Florida KAPOW program, which began with one school and business and 250 students. The program now serves 600 students annually in 80 elementary, middle and high schools. More than 850 communit
y volunteers and 500 educators participate in the program. Seventy percent of KAPOW students are minorities (primarily Hispanic and African American) who qualify for free or reduced lunch. The KAPOW Program has received local and national awards for its contributions to education and community involvement. Major corporate partners, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines have participated for more than fifteen years. We are also developing new ways to help students and teachers impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic deal with their isolation and disconnect with outside world, by:
• Developing and sharing new methods for virtual lesson presentations, visits to worksites, and volunteer interviews to keep students and teachers connected with our volunteers.
• Providing this virtual content on our new YouTube channel
• Encouraging partner teachers and volunteers to embrace technology as a new way to deliver lesson content.
• Providing inspiration and encouragement- see our May newsletter.
• Continually monitoring teachers’ needs via surveys, teleconferences and email.
• Helping students understand what their roles are now, and can be in the future to help make this crisis an opportunity. In our newest project, SolutionsForChange, students will participate in virtual interviews with accomplished people regarding bias, social injustice, and racial equality, then create plans for change.
