From the time education began, student reflection on the value of their educational experiences has regularly centered on a single, appropriate, and familiar question: “When am I ever going to use this?”

Our purpose at Avenue Scholars is for the answer to that question to be “every day of your life.” That’s because Avenue Scholars is about careers – learning about them, preparing for them, entering them, and above all else, succeeding in them.

Avenue Scholars will expose the students entering our program today to a variety of quality career options in fields such as health care, information technology, automotive technology, trades and manufacturing, and business processes. We’ll also coach them through part-time work so that they can experience the realities of the work world and learn and develop the attributes necessary to be successful in it.

We’ll help students identify and access the paths to their career goals, which includes providing them with a grant to continue their education/training after successfully completing their Avenue Scholars high school experience. We’ll continue to support them throughout their time in post-high-school training and will work with employers to open doors to career opportunities. We’ll then stay with them for six months after they start their careers to make sure they get off to a good start. This is our commitment to our students.

We greatly appreciate the generous support of our educational, business, philanthropic, and community partners for their unique contributions to our students’ success and well-being. Without the collective contributions of each of them, none of this would be possible. Special thanks to our students for choosing to be part of this program and being the inspiration for our work.

Let’s go forward together and accomplish great things!