Alignment Bay County: Synergy Needed To Help Children

BAY COUNTY, FL – Tiffany Campbell, Executive Director of Alignment Bay County (ABC), is searching for “leaders with connections” in the community to come forward to serve on a team or a board of ABC, to execute projects that align with the goals of the Bay District Schools.

Many charitable and even state agencies provide services and resources that help children and families in Bay County and Alignment Bay County’s mission is to align those resources toward a common goal of having a positive impact on public school success, children’s health and the success of our community as a whole. “There are so many great organizations in Bay County whose services include children, from very young to post K-12, and even their families. ABC works to bring these groups to the table to determine how we can collectively have a position impact and the education and well-being of our youth.

Alignment Bay County is reaching out to other organizations in the community for volunteers to participate on one of the boards or teams.

The Governing Board meets quarterly to review the current priorities such as reading, parent involvement, and mentoring programs. They also make decisions about which initiatives to execute and to help raise funds to support projects where no funding exists. They also recruit volunteers to help with projects and members for the Operating Board. 

The Operating Board also meets quarterly. The Operating Board members consist of Non-Profit Organization Leaders, Bay District School staff, and other community members who want to be involved. They review proposals for potential programs/projects and determine if they align with the goals of the organization, determining feasibility, volunteer load as well as available funding and potential need for fundraising.

There are also three Alignment Teams (A-Teams) which are the boots on the ground who actually carry out projects in conjunction with partner agencies or with volunteers.

The Early Learning Alignment Team focuses on children from zero to five years old. They purchase books for young children, to leave in boxes at pediatrician and OB/GYN offices, laundromats, dry cleaners, etc. and have a representative assigned to periodically check to see if boxes are empty, then bring more books. They have also hosted community resource fairs to help spread the word about services available for families with children.

The Elementary Alignment Team or Elementary “A Team” covers children from first grade through fifth grade. One newest project is the after-school club, “Girls with Pearls,” at Parker Elementary. This program focuses on appropriate behavior, learning your strengths and weaknesses, understanding self-esteem and self-confidence, and learning how to speak in public. This program also is also aimed to improve daily attendance and getting to school on time. Guest speakers come in to speak to the group and incentive items such as little trinkets they may select from a prize box are provided at each meeting. For students who excel throughout the school year larger incentives such as Nintendo Switches were made part of a drawing.

The Secondary Alignment Team covers middle school through college preparation and entrance. The main focus of this A-Team is the graduation coach program. Each high school has a graduation coach which helps support students with barriers to graduating.

This project is all about supporting students in their journey to graduation in their senior year. Alignment Bay County provides funds for each graduation coach to support testing boot camps for students to practice for graduation related tests, transportation for week end testing appointments, gift cards as incentives when students achieve benchmarks and funding for their caps and gowns.

ABC volunteers could simply help by attending events and presenting flyers to those participating, sorting books, providing a gift card to assisting with any one of the projects listed. We also are looking for board members who have a heart to serve in our community and who are interested in the success of our youth.

Will you be included in this Youth Focused, Community Driven organization?