Brett Brenton on LinkedIn: Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Industry-Valued Credentials… (2024)

Such a wonderful event thrown by the SMT Center last night. They do a really great job of highlighting student achievement as well as the impactful work done by schools, organizations, and other champions of STEM education. Congrats to all who were recognized!

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Beautiful day to kick off the opening of Wake Technical Community College East Campus. Nine locations in one community college system. Impressive.With a focus on Engineering, EMS, Biopharmaceutical Training, Aviation, and a number of other programs, they will have a chance to expand programming and create a center of gravity in the eastern part of the county. Beyond excited to see what comes of this!

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Great thoughts shared by Lisa Finaldi from Family Forward NC at the Warren County Education and Industry lunch. Such a rich growth area for companies in how they can increase recruitment and retention through innovative practices.

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Shout out to Corey Hutcherson, IOM for putting on a content-rich North Raleigh Chamber of Commerce event this morning. Great to hear from Wake County Public School System Superintendent Robert Taylor and Barbara Brothers from Capital Area Workforce Development, but the highlight was the three high school students talking about their path to career. Definitely bright futures ahead for that crew!

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Here’s one to watch out for. Jazel Mendoza is a MBA candidate at Barton College, intern with the Zebulon Chamber of Commerce, and creator of a program aimed to get Barton students the attire they need to be successful in the interview process. Definitely doing his part on the path to #2millionby2030

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Today marks the 56th anniversary of Dr. King’s last speech, given to a group of striking sanitation workers in Memphis. He would be shot and killed the next day.I used to look forward to teaching about that string of events in my history classes. Most people recall the mountaintop portion of the speech, which showed that he might have had an inkling of his eminent departure to come. There’s another section that I wanted to lift up. One that most people never caught, myself included…You know, several years ago, I was in New York City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, "Are you Martin Luther King?"And I was looking down writing, and I said yes. And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once that's punctured, you drown in your own blood—that's the end of you.It came out in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the states, and the world, kind letters came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one from the President and the Vice-President. I've forgotten what those telegrams said. I'd received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I've forgotten what the letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and I'll never forget it. It said simply, "Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School." She said, "While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I am a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I'm simply writing you to say that I'm so happy that you didn't sneeze."As are we all. To all those who pursue justice in whatever fashion you see fit, who work towards the condition of human betterment, try not to sneeze. You’re needed more than you could ever know.

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Excited to share our new webinar series. These are short visits to topics hitting on all things educational attainment - pre-k, FAFSA, labor market alignment, and many more. Something for everyone. Please share if you think it would be of value to a colleague.

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The #RuralSummit2024 is a top notch event… year in, year out. They convene so many amazing voices representing the diverse lenses of rural NC. One of the highlights this year was hearing from Piedmont Community College President Dr. Pamela Gibson Senegal on the innovative programs they’ve enacted. #RuralCounts

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It probably doesn’t register on most people’s radars, but this has been an incredibly challenging year in the Financial Aid space for students, parents, and support staff alike. Great to see the topic get attention at the Avanza Convening at Durham Technical Community College, but even better that it was discussed more deeply through the Latino lens by our friends at NCSEAA.

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