(MFIN) changes the way students experience school by organizing the curriculum, instruction, and guidance services around their strengths, skills, talents, interests, plans and dreams.  When this transformation occurs, academic achievement, engagement and motivation increase; student aspirations rise; and many of the difficulties found in our schools are eliminated.  Students who have never linked school to a successful future are motivated to do so.

Our School is Cool project – My Future Is Now (MFIN) – has received renewed funding from the

Community Foundation of Broward to serve our middle school during the 2015-2016 school year.

MFIN has trained our middle school teachers, the leadership team, including our principal, Mrs. Casandra Robinson, and business and community volunteers to help students connect what they are learning in school with their vision for the future. The project will also include field trips by these students, their teachers and parents to the workplace, local colleges and technical schools, to experience jobs first-hand, and learn more about career possibilities.

In the 2014-15 school year, MFIN students improved reading and math, grades, as well as their attendance and behavior, based on specific objectives set for the project. Students developed “dream plans” for the future. Many are talking about going to college and having professional careers, especially after a trip last fall and this spring to the Nova University Campus.

“The culture MFIN assists with creating at Dillard High School fulfills the School and The School District’s mission of educating all students to reach their highest potential, improve student performance and reduce the number of high school dropouts by changing the way students experience school,” said Ms. Robinson.

The School is Cool Initiative aims to increase Broward’s graduation rate to 90% by focusing on middle school success. “Everyone loses when a student drops out of school,” said MFIN Project Director, John Casbarro, President of the non-profit organization Learning for Success, Inc.

This project is made possible by a grant from the Mary and Alex Mackenzie Community Impact Fund of the Community Foundation of Broward through its School Is Cool Initiative.