Armstrong High students STRIVE for success

Twice a month, some Armstrong High School students in Plymouth are cracking open their copy of Sean Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens".

It's part of a program called STRIVE, which is facilitated by Rotary clubs nationwide.

Armstrong has partnered with Golden Valley Rotary Club to oversee the Strive program there.

Students who are in Armstrong's "A" School, a school within a school that offers additional support to struggling juniors and seniors, make up Armstrong's Strive group.

"What I like about Strive is it's not just, oh, we're going to teach you how to be business people," says senior Tori Herry.  "It's like they really focus in."

Focusing on things like ethics and personal responsibility, as outlined in Covey's book.

"We're getting a lot of success with using this as our focus," says Rotarian Joan Boger.  "It gives us an agenda to work with.

That agenda includes a look at colleges and career options.  Letting students know their hard work now will pay dividends later.

"From Strive, I think the students get the obvious benefits of the exposure to different colleges, and post secondary options, and how to make that happen in their lives, " says Dave Esposito, "A" School program director.

The Rotary Club will also pair students with mentors from the Rotary Club, to give them connections to more opportunities within the community. 

Rotarians are fundraising for scholarships throughout the year.  Last year, they raised enough so that every graduate of the Strive program received some sort of scholarship grant.

To see Strive in action, click on the video link to the right.

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