St. Petersburg College Wins Cornerstone Award From Year Up

From St. Petersburg College:

March 3, 2021

St. Petersburg College and Year Up have been working closely over the last few years to help students complete certificate programs in IT or Business. At the recent graduation celebration for SPC’s Year Up class, SPC was awarded the Cornerstone Award, an annual accolade given to an individual or organization that embodies Year Up’s mission to close the opportunity divide.

The Year Up team works with our students each week to help them by the providing career mentorship and academic support they need to succeed. After they complete the Year Up program, students begin a six-month professional internship, and then Year Up assists the students with full-time career placement.

Year Up staffer Walter Joseph said the award celebrates organizations who fully support their cause.

“Cornerstone Award winners go above and beyond to change minds about what is truly possible in this country by supporting our students, our staff, and the Year Up organization as a whole,” Joseph said.

The program takes place at the St. Petersburg College’s Midtown Center, where Associate Provost Patrick Booth says they work closely with the Year Up team to ensure student success.

“Advisors Takita Cuthbertson and Linda Huetson are assigned all of the students in the program and meet each week with the Year Up team to help register the students and provide advisement, Heather Disler’s team helps with tutoring and Roslynn Tarver helps all of the students with their Financial Aid needs,” he said. “We hold a monthly and quarterly meeting with the Year Up team, as well.

In addition, the Midtown team hosts an orientation for the new class, which includes games and prizes. In spite of all their efforts, Booth said the team was completely surprised by the award.

It was awesome – we were really excited about it,” he said. “We were not expecting it when they shared the news during their graduation ceremony.”

To learn more about Year Up, please visit their FL Tampa Bay website.

This press release was produced by the St Petersburg College News. The views expressed are the author's own.