AT&T job shadow initiative prepares students for brighter futures

Harrisburg high school students received a first-hand look at career opportunities beyond high school, thanks to Junior Achievement of Southcentral Pennsylvania and AT&T’s Aspire Mentoring Academy.

The most recent program took place on April 17, 2015, at AT&T’s offices in Susquehanna Township, where 20 Harrisburg students had the opportunity to learn about various careers within the company and in the telecommunications industry and practice workplace readiness skills with AT&T employees.

Aspire Mentoring Academy is AT&T’s nationwide mentoring program that aims to address the nation’s dropout crisis and broaden students’ awareness about career opportunities in their own communities. Through its Aspire Mentoring Academy, AT&T is helping to raise high school graduation rates by providing students one million hours of mentoring by AT&T employees through the end of 2016. The program focuses on students at risk of dropping out and helps connect what they’re learning in school with their future career options.

Mentoring at AT&T workplaces shows students the connection between the classroom and career success. As part of this approach, AT&T works with Junior Achievement of South Central Pennsylvania to provide students with the opportunity to learn about careers in the telecommunications industry, as well as practice interviewing skills and discuss life goals, beginning with the importance of successfully completing high school as a foundation for future successes. Ten AT&T employees participated in the event.

“Our collaboration with Junior Achievement provides these Harrisburg students career exploration activities that help motivate them to stay in school and achieve meaningful careers,” said La Kita Gilmore, a Harrisburg-based AT&T employee who organized the event. “We have developed a strong relationship over the years with JA to provide these job shadowing opportunities in Harrisburg and nationwide.”

Aspire Mentoring Academy is a part of AT&T Aspire, AT&T’s $350 million commitment to education. With more than one million student participants since its launch in 2008, Aspire is one of the nation’s largest corporate commitments focused on helping more students graduate from high school ready for college and careers.

Community Engagement at AT&T
At AT&T, Community Engagement means engaging our employees to build healthy, connected, and thriving communities where we live and do business. Employees are focused on three key issues: improving educational outcomes, building sustainable communities and promoting the responsible use of technology. In 2012, employees and retirees donated more than 5.8 million hours of time to community outreach activities and pledged more than $34.8 million for charities of their choice through employee giving. Employees also committed to more than 23,500 sustainable choices through Do One Thing (DOT), which invites employees to make small, everyday choices that add up to a big positive impact for themselves, the community and/or the company

About Junior Achievement of South Central Pennsylvania
Junior Achievement (JA) empowers young people to own their economic success. JA’s volunteer-delivered, K-12 programs foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy skills, and use experiential learning to inspire kids to dream big and reach their potential. Locally, Junior Achievement of South Central PA (JASCPA) will inspire the lives of more than 46,000 students this school year throughout Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Perry, and York Counties. Nearly 2,500 volunteers are the backbone of the organization, serving as board members, classroom volunteers, student financial advisors, and mentors to help schools and business.