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Foster Phones at West Boca High

ByWarren Redlich

Gabriella, Cassie and Yasmina Morales pose with West Boca High Principal Mark Stenner
Gabriella, Cassie and Yasmina Morales pose with West Boca High Principal Mark Stenner

This happened yesterday. We held off publication so as not to ruin the surprise and to get the above photo. The details were provided to us by AT&T who confirmed the grandmother’s consent to release this information about the girls.

As part of a $300,000 contribution from AT&T, three Palm Beach County sisters – 15 year-old sophomore twins and a 17-year-old senior – will be surprised with smartphones this Wednesday at West Boca High. The smartphones will provide the students with access to the Internet for their studies and communication with their graduation coaches.
The sisters are among 50 Palm Beach County high school students in foster care to receive smartphones, one-on-one graduation coaches, academic enrichment, and participation in small learning communities as part of the Grounded for Life program. Grounded for Life is a collaborative initiative of ChildNet and the Best Foot Forward Foundation funded by AT&T Aspire, AT&T’s education initiative focused on school success and career readiness.
Ninety-five percent of youth leaving the foster Care system do not have their high school diploma. The Grounded for Life program is a comprehensive intervention to improve foster care youth’s engagement in learning and in high school through relationship building, mentoring, problem solving and persistence.
ChildNet was among 30 recipients selected from 1,100 applicants nationwide to share in nearly $12.5 million from AT&T. ChildNet is the Community Based Care (CBC) lead agency in Broward and Palm Beach counties, managing the local system of services and supports for the most vulnerable children. Its mission is to protect abused, abandoned and neglected children. The Best Foot Forward Foundation is the only nonprofit organization in Palm Beach County dedicated to the educational success of youth who have been abused, neglected or abandoned and have entered the foster care system.