Providence Public Library - Teen Squad
The Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation’s investments in “Education Success” are reserved for community programs that ensure that at every age, children in Rhode Island are ready to learn, are engaged learners, and supported in their academic progress while building self-confidence, leadership skills and social-emotional competencies.
Education Success Profile: Providence Public Library – Teen Squad
The Providence Public Library (PPL) describes itself as “a library re-imagined. A place where tradition and innovation intersect—serving as an open and collaborative center of teaching and learning where communities can connect, experience, create, and achieve.” Just like Centreville Bank, a community-based institution, the library takes pride in being approachable and inclusive, and committed to making a meaningful difference in the lives of Rhode Islanders and everyone they serve.
The Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation is proud to support PPL’s innovative teen education and workforce development initiative, Teen Squads. Teen Squad is the umbrella term for all of PPL’s teen workforce development initiatives. The programs provide free, accessible, high-quality, competency-based learning opportunities to empower diverse, underserved youth aged 13-24 with hard and soft skills, academic credit, badges/credentials, and work exposure in high-demand and high-interest disciplines. “PPL’s guiding goal is to provide educational opportunities that address persistent education and career gaps among Providence youth and enrich and inspire our community’s next generation of thinkers, doers, and leaders.” -Erica Busillo-Adams
The Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation grant allows PPL to offer interactive and engaging competency-based programming that builds relationships, expands minds, and connects teens to workforce development opportunities. Our grant supported expanded teen programming, including a new Data Navigators initiative which allowed expanded career exploration and mentoring opportunities for teens.
“I was so impressed by the quality of the Data Navigator presentations. The teens preparation, knowledge of the data, familiarity with Tableau and their excitement was so evident. Their data sources were diverse, thoughtful and relevant. The data visualizations were fantastic and blew my expectations away. Their enthusiasm, knowledge of the data, ability to communicate the trends and answer my pointed questions was outstanding!” - Al Mendes: SVP, Information Technology at Martignetti Companies and Centreville Bank Charitable Foundation Board member
We are proud to have partnered with the Providence Public Library and are excited to see all of the amazing things that are in store for its future. To learn more about PPL’s Teen Squad Program you can visit: https://www.provlib.org/teen-squad-overview/