College & Workforce Readiness

ACT Bestows Honors for College- and Career-Readiness Efforts

By Caralee J. Adams — May 21, 2013 1 min read
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To highlight the work being done to better prepare high school students for future success, ACT Inc. gave four College and Career Readiness Awards at a ceremony in Washington Tuesday night.

The Iowa-City, Iowa-based testing company recognized a student, a high school, a community college, and an employer for their accomplishments in the first year of the competition. In this inaugural year, six states participated and submitted nominations: Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. ACT officials hope that more will join as the annual program expands.

The Student Readiness Award was presented to Sheree Gremillion, a senior at Rogers High School in Florence, Ala., who was honored for her ACT performance, grade point average, extracurricular activities, community service, and work experience. She received a $4,000 scholarship, and five other student finalists received $2,000 each toward their college expenses.

The 1,440-student Rufus King International School in Milwaukee was given the College and Career Transition Award. This honor recognizes growth in reaching ACT benchmarks in grades 8-12, success in helping disadvantaged students achieve, efforts to improve preparation for school and work after high school, and providing leadership opportunities for students. King has an International Baccalaureate program and was spotlighted for its work in creating a college-going culture.

Edgecombe Community College, with campuses in Tarboro and Rocky Mount, N.C., was named the winner of the Community College Career Preparedness Award. The school uses job fairs, mentoring programs, and student-assistance funds to help students graduate with work skills needed to secure employment. The selection for this award was based on availability of career-readiness assessments for students, partnerships with local employers, student graduation rates, and efforts to help with career planning.

The ACT Workplace Success Award was presented to Sargento Foods Inc. in Plymouth, Wis., for its efforts in providing work experience to high school and community college students.

The new awareness campaign and award program was announced earlier this year by ACT.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the College Bound blog.