“The high school dropout rate in the top 50 cities in our nation today is more than 51 percent. We have a current generation at risk. It’s an epidemic,” says Al Serio, vice president of business development at the Mystic-based ABC’s of Life, which strives to “bring solutions through the development and implementation of education and life skills training.”
Serio notes that “without any further education, by the time they are 25, 58 percent will be at risk and unemployable.”
“That is staggering when you think that the next generation that is sitting in the junior high schools and high schools today is, number one, your community tax base and, number two, your labor work force for the future. They are the ones who are going to buy the houses, generate the GDP, and fill the job positions left open by my generation, the Baby Boomers.”
ABC’s of Life has been working in many communities since 2007 doing ethics, behavior, leadership, and career guidance education with teens. The primary focus is to reach the “at risk” population by helping them develop “school to work” life skills.
“Our motivation is social responsibility and community ownership of the tremendous problem that faces our national workforce coming in the next generation,” Serio explains.
ABC’s of Life operates through grants and self-funding.
The company started in the business of ethics, leadership development, and communication training for corporate America. Along the way, Serio said, the team discovered a passion for helping the next generation.
“Our vision is to impact the next generation’s culture by transforming their behavior, choices, and outcomes educationally. Our mission is to partner with others in the business community and in local communities to bring excellence to school to work and social ownership. We work to change expected outcomes in the next generation,” he explains.
With 76 million retired or on the verge of retirement, “All of a sudden you have this huge gap,” Serio notes. “When you look across the landscape, what you see is a nation at risk because we have an emerging generation that is totally at risk and unprepared for entering the workforce.”
Thus, the team—now numbering roughly 15—became involved with the school to work guidance process.
When they looked closer they discovered another major issue: Lost time in the schools is out of control.
“In 2005, the amount of lost time in the schools was equivalent to 2,080 students missing school for one year in Connecticut. It’s mind-boggling,” Serio says.
According to a Connecticut State Board of Education study, Connecticut ranked approximately 45th out of 50 states “between high school graduation preparedness to go to work and the professional skills required to be an effective contributing member in the workforce,” according to Serio.
While the schools are working hard toward the CAPT [Connecticut Academic Performance Test] requirements, “There isn’t much time nor are the curriculums geared toward life skill training,” he adds.
Thus, ABC’s of Life steps in with character, leadership, and communication development as well as career guidance education. The company commits resources to a school community and then looks to see what funding is available through grants within that community or through the school system. “Some schools have funding in place while others have no funding in place,” Serio explains. “The more high-risk communities like New London, Hartford and New Britain…in those communities we self-fund and fund-raise.”
Serio is now in the process of fund raising for New London County and raising money for the work already started in New London High School.
“Our goal is to go to local businesses, local community leaders like city councils, Rotary clubs, the chamber of commerce, the Kiwanis, and to build that strategic relationship. We tell them what we’re doing and tell them how they can participate as a strategic partner,” Serio says.
Presently, trainers are in New London a minimum of three days a week. They are involved in two separated one-year programs: a freshman mentoring program and an alternative discipline program.
Serio explains, “In the mentoring program we train juniors and seniors to be mentors to the incoming freshmen. The other is the alternative discipline program. In New London, if a young person has behavior issues, they can opt out of suspension in a classroom and make up for lost time. The young people in the discipline environment are getting their homework accomplished, and we’re working with the school administrators in providing behavior and leadership development.”
There are several ways that communities can help—among them, individual donations, corporate donations, joint grants, and fund-raising events.
“We’re coming into a community to help the community have a better workforce for the future and a better tax base for the future. In the process, what we are really looking hard at is culture change and behavior change,” he says. “We teach them the things like the decisions you make today affect you all along the way in life. We show them with training material, video, and group breakout sessions. We really go through with the kids so they understand there really is an impact with the choices they make.”
This past year ABC’s of Life conducted an after-school program training in New London High School with Central Connecticut State University. In the spring they were involved with career guidance training in Old Lyme with ninth- and 10th-graders. And, they just completed a six-week school-to-work mentoring program in New Britain “which taught all about behavior in the workplace, leadership, life experiences, and career paths.”
“The outcomes and the level of expectation goes up so much for the young people that, number one, it’s compelling. Number two, it’s encouraging to them because they discover they have value beyond anything they would have ever recognized. They recognize that they can be positive, contributing members of the community which is a huge plus for all of us.”
By Susan Cornell
Special to the Times
For additional information, visit www.abcoflife.net. Al Serio can also be reached by e-mail at aserino@roili-ne.com or phone at 978-771-2781.