To elevate student voice and connect stakeholders with student experiences, tnAchieves announces the launch of its new Find Your Why campaign.
Designed to ignite students’ intrinsic motivations for attending and ultimately graduating from college, Find Your Why seeks to ensure students from the Class of 2021 feel both heard and supported during this unprecedented year.
With Tennessee’s community colleges experiencing a 19 percent decrease in fall enrollment, tnAchieves created Find Your Why to empower and inspire its students while also highlighting the importance of earning a college credential.
“For the last 13 years, tnAchieves has felt a strong sense of responsibility for the transition from high school to college. While ownership belongs to many, our team wakes up every day working to send more Tennessee students to college. We seek to close equity gaps and provide all students with the opportunity to earn a college credential,” said Krissy DeAlejandro, Executive Director of tnAchieves.
“With COVID-19, the value proposition of college needs reimagining to reignite the fire in our students’ bellies. They know their why. It is our job to help them identify and nurture it, then clear their path to a college degree. Find Your Why is our strategy to accomplish this.”
To inform Find Your Why, tnAchieves asked its Class of 2020 college freshmen their why and received over 4,000 replies. Responses ranged from proving you can find success in college to having a better life or more profitable career.
Find Your Why shares stories of our students who are breaking family cycles, overcoming barriers and exceeding expectations. The campaign also highlights many of tnAchieves’ 9,500 volunteer mentors and community partners who offer their stories to provide inspiration.
Find Your Why will be the central theme at tnAchieves in 2021. The program asks students to identify their motivations to attend college and foster this why to a college degree. tnAchieves mentors who reside in the students’ communities will also play a critical role in encouraging the Class of 2021 to remain steadfast in their college pursuit.
“College Promise is proudly committed to making the American Dream a reality for all hardworking students. Efforts like tnAchieves’ ‘Find your Why’ campaign are key to building inclusive and supportive pathways to, through, and beyond higher education,” said Martha Kanter, CEO of College Promise, headquartered in Washington, DC.
tnAchieves has mobilized its stakeholders – students, volunteers, elected officials, employers, parents, educators and community leaders - to film a series of videos exploring their own personal why as well as their professional experience around why college is important. Students will also participate in social media challenges for the opportunity to win gift cards for textbooks and even scholarships!
To learn more about the Find Your Why campaign please visit www.tnachieves.org/findyourwhy.
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