NEW ORLEANS - Lake Forest Charter School will host the 5th Annual Cocktails & Blues Gala on Saturday, October 21, 2017, at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport Terminal, 6001 Stars & Stripes Blvd. The Patron Party begins at 6pm and the Gala and Silent Auction will start at 8pm. The evening, sponsored by Liberty Bank & Trust, raises critical dollars to assist Lake Forest Charter School in providing its high quality, nationally recognized program.

The evening begins with a cocktail reception at 6 pm for VIP Patrons with an elegant dinner catered by Messina's Catering and entertainment by T Ray the Violinist. At 8 pm, the general admission gala and silent auction begins with entertainment by DJ Captain Charles and hors d'oeuvres by Messina's Catering. Meteorologist Kweilyn Murphy will act as Mistress of Ceremonies.

"Liberty Bank is proud to support the Cocktails & Blues Gala and Lake Forest Charter School again this year." said Alden J. McDonald, Jr., Liberty Bank & Trust, President and CEO. "Lake Forest continues to provide quality public education to the children of New Orleans and it has become a staple in the economic development and revitalization of the New Orleans East Community."

Lake Forest Charter School is a 2013 National Blue Ribbon School and 2009, 2016 National Title I Distinguished School Recipient. LFC provides a nurturing environment for children from diverse backgrounds and facilitates maximum student achievement through a rigorous, accelerated academic program, ultimately enhancing each student's ability to become a global, contributing citizen. The highest performing K-8 school in Orleans Parish, Lake Forest Charter delivers on its promise to our children-the promise of a strong academic foundation for life.

The ticket price for the VIP Patron Reception & Dinner is $150 per person. General Admission Gala & Silent Auction Tickets are $65. Sponsorship opportunities available.

For more information or to purchase tickets or sponsorship please visit LakeForestCharter.org/giving/gala/ or call 504-593-8264.

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NEW ORLEANS (Sept. 21, 2017) - The devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey has left many HBCU students in a state of emergency. Lace up at the 30th annual New Orleans UNCF Walk for Education on Saturday, Oct. 14 to help the affected students stay in school as well as thousands of deserving students realize their dream in getting a college education.

More than 2,000 community supporters are expected to come together at the Audubon Park Riverview benefiting students and UNCF's member universities Dillard and Xavier. WWL-TV's Thanh Truong and Natalie Shepherd will serve as the emcees of the fundraising event.

Whether you walk or run, bring the whole family for a day full of fun, food, entertainment, kids' activities and health screenings. Members of the local community are encouraged to register or form teams, securing better futures for all of us.

"Now more than ever, we need all members of the Louisiana community to join us as we raise money to keep our young people in college," said LaJuana Chenier, regional development director, UNCF. "Everyone who believes that 'A mind is a terrible thing to waste'® should attend as we empower area students to get to and through college successfully-even through life's obstacles."

UNCF has been changing lives for generations by enabling more than 430,000 students to graduate from college since it was founded. Last academic year, thanks to the commitment of UNCF stakeholders and sponsors, local area students received more than $2 million in scholarship support. With UNCF's steadfast commitment to New Orleans and Louisiana, more than 5,000 students are pursuing higher education at UNCF-member institutions across the United States. This event is made possible by the support of this year's sponsors WWL-TV, Shell, Audubon Nature Institute and many others.

The community is also encouraged to attend the kickoff celebration Oct. 9 at the Audubon Tea Room, where UNCF and sponsors will provide live music, a silent auction and much more to help inspire attendees to change lives through educational opportunity.

For more information on the kickoff celebration, the New Orleans UNCF Walk for Education or sponsorship opportunities, visit UNCF.org/NewOrleanswalk or contact Julie Gable at julie.gable@uncf.org or 504.581.3794.


Follow this event on social media: @uncf_nola @uncfnola #laceup4UNCF

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About UNCF

UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nation's largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students' education and development through scholarships and other programs, strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding nearly 20 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF awards more than $100 million in scholarships annually and administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at more than 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized motto, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."® Learn more at UNCF.org, or for continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on Twitter at @UNCF.

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Mary-Devon Dupuy

Spending money on anything besides the bare necessities may sound crazy to small business owners who are just trying to keep their doors open. In a perfect world, employers would have unlimited budgets to make their businesses run as efficiently as possible. In the real world, many employers struggle to break even. Employment training is usually reserved for large corporate offices with flexible budgets. However, the benefits of employee training may serve to affect businesses' bottom lines more than frugality.

A major money pit across all industries is turnover. According to SHRM, up to 20 percent of all turnover takes place in employees' first 45 days on a job. What's more, Talya Bauer posits, "Research and conventional wisdom both suggest that employees get about 90 days to prove themselves in a new job. The faster the new hire feels welcome and prepared for their jobs, the faster they will be able to successfully contribute to the firm's mission."

According to Bauer's logic, the obvious advantage of training employees is to make them feel prepared, and welcomed onto a team so that they don't jump ship. Bauer advocates onboarding that gives employees defined expectations of their roles, and welcomes them as valuable pieces of a greater whole.

What are the advantages of training employees?

The advantages of staff training go beyond reducing turnover. Millennials care a lot about feeling valued, and knowing that they have internal mobility and the ability to grow within an organization. Employees born before 1980 are more likely to have dependents, and financial concerns that prevent them from switching jobs on a whim, or going back to grad school to pursue their dreams. The benefits of staff training extend to those people as well, because operations run more effectively when everyone knows their roles, as well as their boundaries.

Conflict is inevitable, but it doesn't have to be unmanageable. One of the the benefits of training is that it gives everyone a set of guidelines to follow when conflict arises. Certainly, people are imperfect, and will act accordingly, no matter how many rules are in place. However, guidelines allow superiors to point to a specific set of rules, rather than use their judgment entirely in every case. Personal biases are less likely to come into play if employee training is implemented, and people are less likely to feel personally attacked by the consequences of their actions.

For the sake of simplicity, let's imagine a restaurant. Employees come and go often, and the environment is ripe for conflict. Without any type of training, new wait staff will not understand why they are being scolded, because they were never given a concrete set of guidelines. New managers will apply rules differently, and inevitably, the consequences for certain actions will be delivered unfairly.

With employee training, the new staff will all undergo the same days-long routine, get to know each other, and get to shadow their peers before going on the floor alone. Yes, it feels like a waste of time, especially when there is not a lot of money to spare. But the benefits of keeping more employees on staff, and providing higher quality service to patrons, likely outweigh the original cost of training.

What is the relationship between employee training and employee development?

Examples of issues addressed in employee training span the gamut from basic knowledge about office operations, to sensitivity training. Corporate training tends to have a bad reputation. Fun team building activities for employee engagement can be a tough sell, but more pertinent information about what is and is not appropriate at work, access to knowledge about improving mental health in the workplace, and basic skill development is not only useful, it's vital for an effective team. Employee development starts with training and continues throughout the life of each employees' time with the company. Ongoing training is necessary to continue to develop employees as new information, rules, and regulations become available.

In some work spaces, employee training is necessary for basic safety precautions. Schools need to train employees on all levels to ensure that staff is knowledgeable on how to handle crises. Uniform policy fails to consider nuance at times, and there may be valid reasons for an employee to break protocol. However, having the protocol in place gives employees space to explain their decision to break it, if necessary. Having no established rules opens doors for a lot of poor decision making. If consequences are arbitrary, they will feel like personal attacks. If employees feel personally attacked, they will leave.

Preemptive training can feel like a waste of time, because it is essentially solving issues that have yet to occur, and may never will. However, eventually these issues will occur. Training gives everyone on the team a framework to work within, and employees are less likely to feel blindsided when they have already been trained.

Mary-Devon Dupuy is First Impression Liason for Acrew and a local comedian in New Orleans.

   

  

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