Lowe's and UNC Charlotte SIFE Work to Improve Classroom Security at West Charlotte High School

Thanks to a $1,200 Lowe's Community Improvement Challenge Grant, the UNC Charlotte Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team improved the classroom security and provided essential classroom supplies for one teacher’s classroom at West Charlotte High School.

In November of 2010, a science classroom was robbed of a projector valued at over $1,000 and some basic classroom supplies.  At that time, UNC Charlotte SIFE was working with the science teacher, Mr. Greg Schermbeck, on a character education project sponsored by the Success Foundation and Choice Translating.  SIFE students worked with the West Charlotte students on issues such as decision making, goal setting, and personal responsibility.  The Lowe's Community Improvement Challenge Grant afforded SIFE the opportunity to help Mr. Schermbeck make his classroom a little more secure and to add some classroom supplies that will help him engage his students.

Matt Murrow, Co-Project Leader of the character education project, said, "It's heartbreaking to see these students deprived of essential supplies.  They face many challenges in their lives so we were determined to reduce the chance of future theft."

The UNC Charlotte SIFE team won the Lowe's grant to purchase a Gladiator storage cabinet, 20 personal dry erase boards, materials for science experiments and paint to repaint some of the school mascot lion paws around the campus. The Gladiator cabinet will help to protect items against theft while the dry erase boards help with make the classroom more interactive.

“The Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation and the UNC Charlotte SIFE team have graciously donated their time, money and energy to help my students”, said Greg Schermbeck.  Schermbeck continued, “All students deserve to have a safe and engaging educational environment.  Lowe’s and SIFE have helped me to accomplish this goal.”

UNC Charlotte SIFE students, Greg Schermbeck, about a dozen West Charlotte students, and two Lowe’s employees teamed up on a Saturday morning in late March to make the improvements to the Schermbeck’s classroom.  Matt Murrow remarked “We are astonished that we had such a great turnout on a Saturday morning.  It shows that these students not only want to better themselves but to help their classmates as well.  We are grateful to Lowe’s for giving us this opportunity to change lives for years to come.”

According to Lowe’s, 147 SIFE teams from across the nation applied for the Lowe’s Community Improvement Challenge Grant.   50 teams were selected to receive the grants to pay for structural improvement of community, educational, municipal, or residential facilities or operations.  Applications were due in December and the winners were announced in early January. Projects are designed to be completed by early June. Twenty-five out of the fifty SIFE teams are eligible to receive an extra $2,000 dollar grant from Lowe’s upon submission of an impact report.

Greg Schermbeck originally joined West Charlotte High School in the 2008 – 2009 school year as a Teach for America volunteer.  That year he won the First Year Teacher of the Year award at West Charlotte High School.

SIFE Profile

Students in Free Enterprise is an international non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills needed to become socially responsible business leaders.  There are approximately 1,500 active SIFE teams in about 40 different countries around the world.  The UNC Charlotte SIFE team’s mission is toleverage our business skills and entrepreneurial spirit to empower people in need to succeed – personally, professionally, or financially – by implementing sustainable projects developed with our community and business partners.

     

Culture for Success (We Depend on YOU!)

As our SIFE team moves forward (we can no longer use the excuse "we are a young organization" anymore!) we need to take full responsibility for not only our success, but also our failures. Our team needs to believe in a culture of accountability and also a culture of execution. Our entire team needs to take the initiative to be proactive for our organization and to be accountable in whatever task they are trying to accomplish. There can be no blame: no "we did not produce any results because the rules prevented us"... think outside of the box. No "my team members no longer show up to meetings"... use a new style of leadership that allows your team to add their opinions and have control over the outcomes. No "so and so was never any help"... burn your own path and take a risk to improve your team by making the right decisions.

Each person on our team must be held accountable, not to do the work assigned to them, but to take the initiative to add more value to their team.

The Executive Board is not there to take orders from the President, the Project Leaders are not there to take orders from the Executive Board, and the team members are by no means there to implement only what the Project Leader feels necessary. Everyone on our SIFE team is here to be heard, be accountable in taking their own initiative and expressing their own thoughts, and to execute the decisions that are made by the team.

It is this culture of open communication, accountability, and execution that will allow UNC Charlotte SIFE to take the next step. It is up to you to communicate, be accountable for, and execute this culture for the years to come to ensure our success.


BPS

Thoughts from VP Marketing- June 5th, 2011

Today is June 5th, 2011 and I just wanted to share some thoughts.

SOAR starts this Tuesday. The SIFE cornhole boards have been created, the Plinko board is making progress. I spent a few hours painting it today, I'll finish in the morning.
I ordered some business cards to pass out during SOAR. I'm chalking campus tomorrow with Brian Skerry to try and create some hype for our table at SOAR. I just created the SIFE take one flyer/handout. I have a few different variations with the same content. This is setting up to be a very promising week for UNC Charlotte SIFE. In other news I turn 20 years old.

Recruitment will prove to be a big part of our year. Our team has grown from 25 students to 55 students in the last two years. With a good recruitment effort we can reach somewhere between 80 and 100 easily. I'm really excited to see how well we can do and how the extra man power and imagination can help us change the world.

I'm working on the business plan for the recycling fun project. Brian Skerry said he has started working on the business plan for the Charlotte Housing Authority project and it is showing a lot of promise.

Everything is looking up, I'm excited about the future of UNC Charlotte SIFE.

-Matt | VP Marketing