On October 9, 2024, Centralina hosted a Fall Celebration and Awards Ceremony at Atrium Ballpark in Kannapolis, NC. This event highlighted the work of our organization and member communities, in addition to several people and programs that have made an exceptional impact in our community over the last fiscal year.
The first Region of Excellence category awarded was Cross-Community Collaboration. These awards are given to those who demonstrate the value of partnerships across communities in order to achieve better outcomes.
About the Program
Albemarle’s Project Next Step is a summer program designed to improve students’ access to innovative learning strategies and engage local students in quality, interactive enrichment opportunities with Stanly County Community College. By integrating academic enrichment with real-world experiences, the program was able to broaden the horizons of many Albemarle Middle School students and prepare them for future academic success.
Hosted by City of Albemarle Parks & Recreation, Project Next Step set out as a collaborative summer program between the department and Stanly County Schools. The collaboration was born out of the recognition that parks and recreation can play a vital role in bridging the gap between the academic and physical needs of students in the Albemarle community and beyond.
The goal of the program was to support and encourage the well-being and academic enrichment of Albemarle Middle School students. Many of these students previously believed that college was not an option for them due to a variety of circumstances. Project Next Step provided science, technology, engineering, arts and math learning experiences as well as field trips to colleges and universities so that students could visualize their own success and feel confident in their ability to learn and excel.
Albemarle Parks and Recreation staff provided a safe, structured environment for 53 middle school students over the summer. The program consisted of a diverse group of staff and participants. Fifty-one of the participants surveyed acknowledged that they had never been selected to participate in a program before Project Next Step.
This project connected academic concepts to real-world experiences and used Stanly County as a learning lab for participants. For example, during a visit to Juneberry Ridge, a local farm, students observed the connections between science and agriculture, spent time engaging with nature and completed hands-on activities with animals. Students were also able to ask questions and engage with local agricultural professionals. This experience, like many of the others during the summer, provided them an opportunity to connect their interests to potential career opportunities.
The project also utilized nature and recreation to create positive impacts on quality of life. For example, participants completed a hike at Morrow Mountain, and while some participants were initially anxious about hiking, all completed the trek and were proud of their efforts. Several students took pictures of the mountain behind them as a reminder of what they had accomplished. They talked about what helped them complete this challenge and how the experience provided them with personal tools to overcome other challenges.
By the end of this 60-day program, opinions had changed and the majority of students believed that college was an option for them. Through Project Next Step, the impacts of cross-community collaboration were put on full display. Not only did this program broaden the horizons of Albemarle Middle School students, but it used local resources and forged important community relationships.
