Project Success does college preparation with workshops that teach what to look for in colleges, how to apply, and the benefits of going to college for children and teens in middle school and high school.

Founder Adrienne Diercks said, “I started Project Success because I wanted to work with kids in public schools.” Project Success started out as a motivational workshop for North High students. Now Project Success provides one-on-one assistance in looking at colleges, free Tickets to various theater shows, College Tours, and Workshops for schools all throughout Minneapolis including South High.

Project Success has been known for the theater tickets that are available to students for free. Some theaters that students have had access to are The Guthrie, Children Theatre Company, Mixed Blood Theatre, and The Minnesota Dance Theatre. Project Success is able to provide student with these tickets because theaters donate them to fill empty seats,and also to create a future audience.

The Organization provides free tours of colleges in Minnesota and Wisconsin, along with giving students the option to look at colleges in Chicago and Iowa for a small fee. Project Success is able to do these college tours on a small budget because school programs, including the South High Foundation, donate about $4,000  per year. Businesses donate money to the organization along with individuals.

“To apply for government grants myself would take months, and paying someone else to fill out the paperwork was expensive,” said Diercks. “Knowing that  government dollars come and go, I did not want Project Success to be in a school and not be there the next year” stated Diercks. Project Success has never had to leave a school.

Each school that is a partner with Project Success has a facilitator who conducts workshops in that school. Alex Brooks, who is the South High facilitator, has been with the program for three years. “I had been acting for 3 years and felt like I was missing something” said Brooks. “When I saw the job, it looked like a great mix of classroom experience without being a teacher.”

Project Success does not just use money and donations to support their mission. Volunteers provide free transportation to and from the theaters along with free daycare. According to Brooks, volunteers like to give free transportation because they get two free tickets to see the play with the family they drove.

For information or to donate, go to Project Success go to www.projectsuccess.org.