Creating a World Class Education One Hour at a Time:
The 500 plan
The Grand Junction Forum, a Chamber committee charged with taking the long view on building on community assets, and leadership of Mesa County Valley School District 51 has forged a partnership to build a world class education system in the Grand Valley.
A major variable between education in the United States and elsewhere is the amount of time students spend in the learning environment. With that in mind the Forum has created the 500 Plan. The goal is simple…to add 500 volunteers, making at least an eight week commitment to work with elementary students for approximately one hour on Wednesday afternoons.
Contact (970) 242-3214 or 500plan@gjchamber.org for more information.
Volunteers will need to:
• Submit to a background test and fingerprinting to assure student safety
• Attend a two hour class on working with students. The class will be scheduled several times over the next few weeks
• Commit to at least an eight week session
Employers are being asked to:
- Allow employees to be vacant from work for one hour on Wednesday afternoons
- Encourage participation among all employees
- Sign up themselves for the program
- Make a contribution to the Mesa County Business Education Foundation equivalent to $50 per employee to help cover the 500 Plan’s cost, including background checks (This is not required but donations will be needed to offset costs of about $25,000
You can choose to do all of the above or selected elements. To sign up for the program, download and return The 500 Plan Volunteer/Donor Form. (PDF)
The community, working in tandem, can add 500 hours of instruction a week to our children with this program. The Forum hopes this is just the beginning and that the community will work together in other ways to add time to our education system..
I want to help build a world class education system in the Grand Valley.
- I will be one of the 500
- I will help support the program financially with a $50 tax deductible donation to the Mesa County Business Education Foundation to help cover the costs of the plan.
Download Volunteer/Donor Form:
The 500 Plan Volunteer/Donor Form (PDF)
Special thanks you to Alpine Bank and Bank of Colorado for their generous donations to support The 500 Plan.
