July 29, 2010

Character Competencies Program Closing Event

The closing event for the Characters Competencies Program (CCP) was held Tuesday, July 20, 2010. The ceremony was presented by the Global Peace Festival Foundation (GPFF), and the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency (AWDA).

The CCP began as a collaboration between Mayor Kasim Reed, the Administration for Children and Families, Georgia Department of Human Resources, AWDA, and GPFF. The program consists of life skills courses provided by facilitators who have been trained to instruct youth in a distinctive and active approach.

At the end of the event the students received certificates of completion, and some of them also gave personal testimonies on how CCP changed their everyday lives. Plaques and other awards were given to CCP participants on their outstanding abilities to work with and encourage youth.  The panel of stakeholders, which includes Carlis Williams, Robert Welsh, Deborah Lum, Richard Case, and Georgia State Senator Emanuel Jones, also addressed the young spectators.

Senator Jones explained to the students that he too grew up on the streets of Atlanta, and that many things aren’t different than they were when he was a child. Senator Jones states “Yes, I have many successes in my life, and I am grateful and blessed for them all, but life ain’t been a crystal stair.” an excerpt from a poem written by Langston Hughes entitled ‘Mother to Son’. Students were reminded that their present issues should not be allowed to halt their future success. The Characters Competencies Program provided the students with many of the tools needed for a successful life.