Grant County High School's Navigo Scholars
Back Row: L to R: Caleb Sims, Trevor Weinel, Jakob Carey, Preston Ross, Steven Cummins
Front Row: L to R: Summer Strong, Dawson Hedger, Zac Elswick, Dakota Stone
Not Pictured: Breanna Smith, Michael Frost
As the NaviGo Scholars gather in Northern Kentucky, Grant County High School has its highest number of participants to date, and also boasts one of the largest 2017-2018 delegations from a single high school in all of Northern Kentucky!
Grant County High School was honored to have had eleven students selected for the NaviGo program, including: Jakob Carey-Fulton (Duke Energy); Steven Cummins (Mazak); Zac Elswick (Duke Energy); Michael Frost (Mazak); E. Dawson Hedger (Mazak); Preston Ross (Mazak); Caleb Sims (Mazak); Breanna Smith (Mazak); Dakota Stone (Mazak & Duke Energy); Summer Strong (Duke Energy); and Trevor Weinel (Duke Energy).
What is NaviGo?
Founded in 2011 by a team of businesspersons and educators, and led by Tim Hanner, a former “Superintendent of the Year” from Kenton County, Navigo is a relatively new, but growing enterprise designed to help students navigate through various college and career opportunities. The program uses a year-long, customized curriculum to make strong students stronger and help students with weaknesses identify those challenges in order to achieve better outcomes.
NaviGo offers a win-win opportunity for employers and students. The employers who partner with the program have the opportunity to groom the next generation of employees, teaching both hard and soft skills that will have a positive impact on the work force. For these employers, this is an investment not only in the student’s future, but also in their own, as it strengthens their capacity for having a qualified (and profitable) work force. Students gain exposure to a variety of careers, network with like-minded students and business persons, develop skills and characteristics desired by employers, and may very well land a career with tuition-paid college opportunities.
More than 30 Northern Kentucky employers, including St. Elizabeth Healthcare, US Bank, Safran Landing Systems, Mazak, Mubea, and more, are involved as coaches in the NaviGo program, who will be working this year with approximately 100 students.
To be selected for the program, students complete an online application, which inquires not only about the student’s academic career, but also things like what hands-on skills they possess, and how they would respond in given situations. Once chosen for the program each student receives a personal coach from one of the partnering employers with whom they will meet regularly. There are also regular group meetings, running throughout the school year, which encourage networking, leadership, skill building, problem solving, communication, and more. Additionally, a coach from Thomas More will come to Grant County High School once each week to work with the Scholars. Thomas More College is heavily invested in the program and is offering scholarships of up to 50% tuition for graduates of the program.
The students are excited by the opportunities that await them through NaviGo. “It’s a pretty neat program,” states Dawson Hedger. “At our first group meeting, we actually set a couple records that could land us in the Guinness Book of World Records. We were given a problem to solve – with the provision being that we could not speak – and completed it in record time.” He continues, “Seriously, though, it’s very comprehensive and involved. Attendance is really stressed, so they have even set us up with Remind accounts to help us keep us track with where we’re supposed to be when. Everything they offer is really impressive. We feel lucky to be there.”