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Whatever It Takes, an initiative of the non-profit Family Connection-Communities In Schools of Athens, announces the public release of the Athens Community Plan for Children to be held at Athens Community Career Academy (in the H.T. Edwards Complex, 440 Dearing Extension Building #1) on Monday, December 12^th at 2:30pm. The result of a year-long planning process, the Athens Community Plan for Children compiles highlights of the 77 solutions for childhood success created by a collaboration of over 500 Athens experts including over 70 institutional partners from both the public and private sectors.

In September 2010, the Whatever It Takes initiative was awarded a Promise Neighborhoods Planning Grant by the United States Department of Education in order to develop a cradle to career continuum of solutions to ensure that all children in Athens are healthy, safe, engaged in the community and on course to graduate from a post-secondary education.

“We will change the culture in every neighborhood throughout Athens such that excellence in educational achievement is highly valued, celebrated, and expected.” said Family Connection-Communities In Schools Executive Director Tim Johnson.

By concentrating efforts in a single neighborhood and subsequently expanding outward, Whatever It Takes will achieve a domino effect bringing the ‘cradle to career’ continuum to the entirety of Athens-Clarke County. Starting the Whatever It Takes initiative in the Alps Road Elementary School attendance zone will allow WIT to reach the tipping point of 65% neighborhood involvement that is necessary to create a genuine culture of success. This concentration of resources creates a compounding effect, changing the odds for all children rather than helping just a few to beat the odds.

The Whatever It Takes planning process included a robust Community Assessment, including resource mapping, focus groups, key informant interviews, a door-to-door neighborhood survey, monthly Community Conversation public input events, Neighborhood Leader Living Room Conversations, and more. Strategic Action Teams made up of area experts – including parents, students, doctors, teachers, business owners, the faith community, academia, the creative community and others – focused on health and wellness, early care and learning, K-12 education, post-secondary and career success, data and evaluation, safety and community stability and neighborhood engagement as they formulated 77 solutions for childhood success.

In addition to the presentation of the Athens Community Plan for Children, the event will also showcase Clarke County School District students and the Whatever It Takes Neighborhood Leaders as well as remarks from Athens-Clarke County Mayor Nancy Denson and Clarke County School Superintendent Dr. Phil Lanoue among others.

Printed copies of the Athens Community Plan for Children will be available to attendees and will be distributed throughout Athens-Clarke County. Copies will also be available directly from Whatever It Takes upon request. A digital version of the Athens Community Plan for Children will be available for download from witathens.org and onlineathens.com after the event.

The Athens-Clarke County Family Connection-Communities In Schools Partnership is the official planning and coordinating body for services for children and families in our community. Whatever It Takes is an all hands on deck collaboration that braids people power, existing programs and services, and financial resources to ensure that by 1 p.m. on Wednesday July 1st, 2020 every child in Athens-Clarke County will be on course to graduate from a post-secondary education. WIT seeks to achieve this goal by emphasizing early intervention, recognizing that parents are a child’s first and most important teachers, focusing resources in a limited geographic area, identifying and training neighborhood leaders, setting high expectations for all children, creating a culture of success, and using data to direct to policy. To learn more about Whatever It Takes, visit www.witathens.org

To learn more about Whatever It Takes, please visit our web site at www.witathens.org, or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/witathens.