Last night, more than 100 seventh-grade students from four Philadelphia schools gathered for “Share Your Spark”, the culmination of a 13-week workplace-based mentoring program through Spark, a career exploration and mentoring nonprofit.
The organization’s annual project-fair style event gives students an opportunity to present Career Interest Projects they developed alongside a professional mentor. Share Your Spark also celebrates students’ accomplishments with an awards ceremony attended by their peers, community members and partners, like Philadelphia Federal Credit Union(PFCU), which sponsored the PFCU Get to Work Award to recognize a student whose project is geared toward helping young people prepare for workforce success.
“At PFCU, we believe in helping people, creating strong communities, and supporting Philadelphians,” said Elaine Melchiorre, vice chair of the Philadelphia Federal Credit Union Board of Directors. “Like Spark, PFCU is dedicated to preparing students for the job market of the 21st century.”
Melchiorre presented the inaugural PFCU Get to Work Award to Brooklyne, a seventh-grader at S. Weir Mitchell School who worked with mentors from KPMG to create a business plan for a Parisian food truck complete with merchandise and a menu.
“Given Brooklyne’s attention to detail, thorough market research, and commitment to her vision, I have no doubt we’ll be seeing great things from this future entrepreneur,” said Melchiorre. “Perhaps Brooklyne will even apply for her first small business loan with PFCU!”
Throughout the 2018-19 school year, Spark mentors – including architects, web developers, and engineers – have amassed more than 4,400 volunteer hours to keep middle school students on track for success. PFCU will build upon its relationship with Spark in the 2019-2020 school year to further support the organization’s career exploration and self-discovery programming that helps students build critical skills necessary for future success.
Tara O’Neill and Jamie Gumina of KPMG; Brooklyne Spraggins, S. Weir Mitchell School; Elaine Melchiorre, Executive Board Vice Chair of PFCU; and Jeff Ryan, Executive Board Chair of Spark celebrate PFCU’s Get to Work Award at the Share Your Spark event on May 20, 2019.
