Richardson High School students will soon have access to college preparation and career readiness programming on campus through a partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas.
BGCD will open a new club at the high school in November offering free programming after school five days a week to help students explore professional and educational opportunities beyond high school.
“It’s not just about helping students choose a career path,” RHS assistant principal John Williams said. “It's really about helping them discover their interests, recognize their interests and see the possibilities for their future.”
The overview
The club will center around BGCD’s Blueprint Richardson program, a pilot program designed to expose students to career pathways and build practical professional skills.
“I’ve always believed that schools can be so much more than places where students come to take classes or earn credits,” Williams said. “I believe that our school is an institution where students discover who they are.”
The RHS club will feature a monthly speaker series on post-graduation paths, skilled trade and professional curriculums, field trips and guidance and tutoring for test preparation and college applications.
BGCD has operated in Richardson for years, but this is its first direct partnership with Richardson ISD. The club reopened its renovated facility last year at St. Barnabas Presbyterian Church, which serves both children and teens.
BGCD CEO Brian Slye said teens were not as active as younger students at the church site, located next door to Richardson High School and so the organization looked for ways to bring resources to them. Williams spearheaded the development of the club in order to bring more opportunities to campus that connect students with the broader community.
The RHS club aims to begin with an enrollment of 60 students this year with the goal of ramping up to 200 students in the next few years.
A closer look
The first several months of the program will focus on the four-year college degree, Slye said, providing guidance and resources for taking the SAT and ACT and applying to college and FAFSA.
The club’s speaker series will feature local professionals sharing their experiences in different post-graduation paths, including skilled trade careers and business pathways like sales and marketing. Students will also have a hands-on field trip to learn more about skilled trade careers.
“What I’m mostly excited about is the access that we’re going to be able to provide to the kids,” Slye said. “They can’t be it unless they see it, and unless we put it in front of them and are intentional about bringing in industry leaders and other subject matter experts.”
The club will also organize 6-12-week curriculums for small cohorts of students who will have the opportunity to do hands-on work in a particular skilled trade or other professional setting and receive a stipend, which Slye said could range from $1,000-$1,500.
“Our kids have multiple interests and they have multiple things that they want to learn,” Williams said. “We told the kids, ‘If you have an interest and we haven’t talked about it yet, let us know and we will find the people to plug you in with and we will find the resources.’”
Slye said the club will also provide support and opportunities for students to obtain scholarships, mentorships, internships and industry-based certifications.
Why it matters
In the process of setting up the club, Slye said BGCD surveyed students to build the programming around their interests and needs.
“We want to see more kids going to college [and] going out of school that are either college, career or military ready,” Slye said. “We want them earning a living wage and helping the community in Dallas and Richardson.”
RHS is a diverse school with students from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds, Williams said, who may not all have the same opportunities for college and career preparation.
“I wanted to make sure that every single one of our students had access to those different opportunities,” Williams said. “All of these programs, especially with the ACT prep and the SAT, families pay thousands of dollars for those things. And our kids get it for free.”
The club will have a dedicated home base inside RHS, but will also have access to facilities around the campus, including the gym and Career and Technical Education spaces, Slye said.
The local impact
Slye and Williams said relationships with the wider Richardson community are key to the club.
“We have so many incredible students who have so much potential, and I believe we have a community full of people, businesses and organizations who can and will help them realize that potential,” Williams said. “We are creating opportunities for students to build those relationships.”
These community partnerships will include the club’s speaker series, field trips and hands-on curriculums, as well as what Williams hopes will be “sustained opportunities” for mentorship, career development and personal growth.
“At the end of the day, I want [students] to connect with people who believe in them,” Williams said. “If we don't accomplish anything else, if they connect with people who believe in them, we have done our job.”
What’s next
The club is free for students, and Slye said BGCD is still working on fundraising and community partnerships to support the program.
“We produce really great results and our programming is nationally tested,” Slye said. “We’ve got the data to show that the investments made are making a real impact to our kids.”
Slye said BGCD plans to learn from the RHS program to hopefully implement similar structures in Dallas club locations. Williams said RISD is also eyeing expansions within the district.
“Richardson High School is just the starting point,” Williams said. “The goal for me and for the district is to really learn from this experience and really strengthen the partnerships and eventually expand opportunities to more high school [and] middle school students.”
