Fall is here, and just as the temperatures are getting cooler, PeerForward teams are turning up the heat on their college-going campaigns to encourage their peers to plan for life after high school.
To best support them along the way, PeerForward hosts seasonal Training Camps to provide tools, guidance, and inspiration teams need to successfully run their campaigns. Our current Fall Training Camps come at a critical moment – the Oct 1 opening of the FAFSA for the 2020-21 academic year. That means Peer Leaders are hard at work planning how they can provide their peers with the proper guidance to file the FAFSA, expanding the reach of their school’s counseling offices to guide more students through the process.
Over the course of the training camp, Peer Leaders work together to learn more about their unique leadership styles by taking the “True Colors Assessment.” Learning the best ways to fuse their leadership styles to work together as a team, Peer Leaders then get to work forming concrete campaign plans with their Advisor. Teams also receive instruction on how to utilize 
social media in creative ways to drive their campaigns.
On occasion, our Training Camps welcome special guests to speak to our students. At our Prince George’s Community College Training Camps on Oct 3 and 10, we were graciously joined by Dr. Carletta Marrow, Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Associate Superintendent of Area 3 High Schools. Speaking to a select group of PGCPS PeerForward teams piloting the PeerForward Method to tackle chronic absenteeism, Dr. Marrow solicited perspective on the issue and what solutions would really work. Peer Leaders took full advantage of the opportunity to speak candidly with their superintendent, raising other issues they feel should be addressed at their schools.
At the conclusion of each Fall Training Camp, the four high school juniors newly added to each team at the start of the school year are officially inducted as Peer Leaders. They do so by taking the Peer Leader Oath, which reads:
“As a PeerForward Peer Leader, I commit my passion, experience, and influence to create a college-going culture for my entire school.
With my team, I will run campaigns to help my peers get to college and realize their potential.
I will be a face for the movement for a force for positive change. This is my pledge.”
With that, we send off our completed PeerForward teams back to their schools to put to action their new training and accomplish their campaign goals for the year!
