Kindergarten-to-Career Impact
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Ask a kindergartner and you might hear doctor, teacher, football player or YouTube star. Those students may change their minds a hundred times before they graduate, or they might follow that dream every step of the way.
Say Yes Guilford exists to support those dreams, removing obstacles that stand in the way and providing support to lift up students. In collaboration with dozens of community partners, Say Yes is impacting students in elementary, middle, high school and college, and positioning graduates to succeed in their chosen careers.
Elementary School Impact
Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS)
Say Yes Guilford offers the HELPS tutoring program in GCS schools and after- school programs. Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies is an evidenced based program designed to improve student’s reading fluency, a key factor in increasing the percentage of students who meet proficiency standards as “College and Career Ready” by the end of 3rd grade. In the 2020-21 school year students participated both in-person and remotely.
%
of Remote Learning Participants Improved Oral Reading Fluency
%
of In-Person Learning Participants Improved Oral Reading Fluency
Holiday Book Drive
Say Yes Guilford delivered more than 3,500 books to partner elementary schools and community-based learning sites in winter 2020. The Holiday Book Drive impacted students in more than 80 classrooms.
Books Donated
Local Classrooms Impacted
Virtual Tutoring Program
In the fall of 2020, Say Yes Guilford began a Virtual Tutoring Program to prevent further learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal Work-Study Students and Volunteers trained in HELPS worked with 50 2-5th grade students for 15-minute tutoring sessions three times a week.
More than 100 community volunteers stepped up to help 201 students from 45 elementary schools improve their skills in math, science, social studies and homework.
What Students are Saying…
- “It helped me read better.”
- “It makes me feel more confident.”
- “Two things: telling about the story and hanging out with my tutor, she’s the best.”
Middle School Impact
Virtual Tutoring Program
The Virtual Tutoring Program, designed to help prevent learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, also helped middle schoolers beginning in fall 2020.
Say Yes partnered with A+ Test Prep and Tutoring to provide two hours of tutoring to 85 6-8th graders from 15 middle schools weekly. Tutors provided breakout sessions for individual help.
High School Impact
Say Yes Scholarships
Say Yes Guilford’s scholarship department conducts more than 100 free postsecondary access workshops, presentations, and community events every year.
More than 5000 families attended in-person events in the 2020-21 school year.
Events Include:
college exploration, college application assistance, FAFSA completion information, financial aid assistance and Say Yes Guilford Scholarship Registration information
Partners Include:
Guilford Parent Academy, Communities in Schools, College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC), and all GCS high school counselors.
FAFSA Completion Assistance
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) completion assistance is a hallmark of Say Yes support.
%
Since 2015, GCS FAFSA completion rate is up almost 10%
FAFSA completion rates directly correlate to college enrollment
Free SAT/ACT Prep Classes
More than 200 GCS students attended Say Yes Guilford's free college exam prep classes in 2020-21.
Free College Prep Webinars
In response to the events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Say Yes offered free webinars for GCS students preparing for college.
35 live, interactive webinars in 2020-21.
Topics Covered:
Cash for college, test prep, maximizing summer experiences, understanding financial aid packages, FAFSA completion, and scholar Q&A.
Service Learning Opportunities
Say Yes partners with GCS to offer service-learning opportunities for high school students.
40 students earned service learning hours through virtually tutoring in 2020-21.
What Tutors are Saying…
- “I really enjoyed this program. I’m so glad I was granted the opportunity to help children who were struggling this year due to the pandemic. I will definitely be doing this next year!”
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“I loved tutoring for this program. I learned so much about each student as well as myself. I can not wait to do it again next year!”
College Impact
Say Yes Scholarships
Say Yes Guilford Scholarships support graduates from every GCS high school.
Say Yes Scholars are Beating National Averages
%
88% of the 2019-20 freshman class of Say Yes Guilford scholars continued their education in the 2020-21 academic year, compared to the national average of 76%.
Say Yes Scholars are graduating at a higher rate than the national average.
%
68.1% four-year graduation rate compared to the national average of 41%
Bachelor’s Degrees
Associate’s Degrees
Say Yes Scholarships Have a Big Local Impact
2,361 GCS graduates have benefitted from SYG scholarships since 2016.
Making significant investments in the futures of gcs students
$36,963,199
Cumulative scholarship award since 2016
$11.5 Million
provided by Say Yes tuition assistance
$25.4 Million
provided by private schools partners
Federal Work Study Partnership
Say Yes created and maintained a Federal Work Study Partnership with GTCC, NC A&T and Greensboro.
7 students were trained in HELPS to work with GCS elementary students
Supporting Students Adjusting to College
Free workshops and webinars to support students adjusting to college and preparing for their career.
Career Impact
Work-life Earnings
Say Yes Guilford is committed to helping students move toward better educational outcomes and increased social mobility. Our work is supporting positive systems change to prepare the next generation of leaders and an educated workforce for Guilford County and beyond.
$492,000,000
total Work-Life Earnings created by SYG Scholars
187 Bachelor’s Degrees are equivalent to $448,800,000 in Work-Life Earnings
24 Associate's Degrees are equivalent to $43,200,000 in Work-Life Earnings
“Write your goals down, so you see them every day. If you want to do something, do it.”
Madison Powers,
Greensboro College Class of 2020
“I want them to be free to do the things they want to do, and not be hindered by any circumstances.”