North Campus Summer Program Prepares Students for Success

Located at 3800 Paramount Drive in North Charleston, the College of Charleston North Campus is home to the School of Professional Studies and its Center for Continuing and Professional Education.

It’s been said that success occurs where opportunity meets preparation. And, for some middle and high school students, that intersection is happening this summer at the College of Charleston North Campus.

The College of Charleston School of Professional Studies’ Center for Continuing and Professional Education has partnered with Dale Carnegie South Carolina to offer Generation.Next, a program designed to give teens the leadership, communication and interpersonal skills they’ll need to navigate the real world and reach their full potentials.

Focused on building self-confidence, enhancing communication skills, interpersonal skill development, teamwork, leadership and effective attitude management — all skills that students will need in their journeys from middle school to high school and from high school to college – the program is taught by Dale Carnegie South Carolina performance coach and business development consultant Liz McCool over six different sessions: four for ages 11–14 (June 19–23; July 10–14 and 17–21; and July 31–Aug. 4) and two for ages 15–18 (June 26–30 and July 24–28).

With a competitive tuition ($450/week) and full-day supervision (courses run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 8 a.m. drop-off and 5 p.m. pickup available), Generation.Next provides an attractive new summer activity for not just teens, but their parents, as well.

“The name recognition of the College of Charleston is also beneficial in attracting students,” says Ingrid Tugwell, franchise principal for Dale Carnegie, adding that the world-renowned program has been taught in 81 countries and 31 languages. “The course we’re offering in partnership with the College of Charleston is the flagship course — one that has been a transformational experience in many lives.”

And that’s exactly what the Center for Continuing and Professional Education was hoping to find.

“The Center for Continuing and Professional Education is committed to youth development and has been seeking a partner with a distinguished track record of success,” says Alice Hamilton, director of the center, noting that — while Dale Carnegie South Carolina’s reputation for excellence is an important factor — “offering courses that are both engaging and transformational is paramount for us.”

The courses taught through Generation.Next certainly fit the bill.

“The program is customizable, as students can identify the communication and presentation skills that they would like to improve or achieve,” says Tugwell. “Each class culminates in a certificate ceremony, where the participants have the opportunity to showcase their growth.”

That certificate, says Hamilton, “is more than a piece of paper. The training is all-encompassing, providing skill sets that become gateways to success academically, personally and professionally.”

Indeed, graduates of the Generation.Next program have reported long-term benefits like feeling more comfortable in college and job interviews, having more focus when it comes to individual goals, making decisions more easily in difficult situations, communicating more persuasively and more effectively and maintaining more positive attitudes when confronting challenges.

And so, if – as Alexander Graham Bell famously said – preparation is the key to success, then opportunity is the door. And, thanks to Generation.Next, that door is opening this summer at the College of Charleston.