City’s TEMPO program graduates record number of students
Photo courtesy City of Tallahassee
Special to the Outlook
A record number of 187 participants graduated last Thursday from Tallahassee Engaged in Meaningful Productivity for Opportunity program. The group represents the largest graduating class since the city began the nationally recognized program in 2017.
In a ceremony at the Old West Enrichment Center, 68 formerly at-risk students received GED certificates and 119 received technical certificates from Lively Technical College and Tallahassee Community College. The students who attended Lively earned their certificates in barbering, cosmetology, culinary arts, welding, commercial driving and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning.
Family, friends, city officials and community members cheered them on as they crossed the stage.
“I didn’t have a high school diploma or a GED, so I had to start fresh,” said Rashon Carter, a cohort VI graduate. “I thank TEMPO and TCC for giving me the opportunity to do the right thing. I’m proud of myself. I’m happy. I did it. I changed my life.”
The TEMPO program is a public safety outreach initiative with a proven track record of successfully reconnecting disconnected or at-risk youth to educational and employment opportunities. Since the City launched the program, it has successfully engaged more than 2,700 area youth in educational and vocational pursuits. The program has a zero percent recidivism rate.
The program’s target demographic – youth ages 16-24 who are out of work and out of school – represent, according to data, Tallahassee’s largest potential gun violence victims and offender pools. By offering guidance and a pathway toward a positive future, TEMPO has been described as a lifeline by past participants.
The program also offers a stop-gap initiative that allows family members of participants to attain their GEDs regardless of age, further strengthening support networks and increasing a household’s opportunity to move out of generational poverty. This year, two siblings followed in the footsteps of their parents who enrolled in the program and received GEDs in 2021. There are five sets of siblings who graduated together, and two graduates who received both their GED and technical certificates.
