FLVS Joins Forces with the University of Florida’s CAMP Gator

Photo Credit: University of Florida

This year, Florida Virtual School (FLVS) is piloting a program in collaboration with the Collegiate Achievement Mentoring Program (CAMP Gator) at the University of Florida (UF). Students from UF serve as virtual leadership mentors to FLVS students enrolled in the Leadership & Skills Development course.

Each week, mentors and mentees meet online to complete activities and lessons related to leadership development, goal setting, and ways to achieve current and future successes.

The FLVS leadership development course offers a comprehensive curriculum for middle and high school students, based on the leadership lessons and activities developed by Mawi Learning, an internationally-renowned leadership training organization led by Mawi Asgedom. Mawi, a former Ethiopian refugee, has worked with schools worldwide and spoken to more than 1,000,000 students.

CAMP Gator is a leadership development course offered by the College of Education, which I teach at the University of Florida.  The pilot program includes two on-site campus visits, which allow mentors and mentees to learn about the resources and activities on the collegiate campus.

A unique aspect of the program is that one of the leadership mentors from UF is a former FLVS student, Brittany Steinke. Brittany is graduating this semester with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Education and will be pursuing her Master’s degree.

We hope that this pilot program will lead to increased collaborations between FLVS students and institutions of higher education throughout the state, including mentoring, leadership development, STEM, and experiential activities.

View some of our student presentations here:
Victoria & Amanda’s Presentation
Rithly and Brittany’s Presentation

Post by: Dr. Matthew Ohlson