Education Foundation relaunches Durable Skills Project
November, 2025
Sanford- Employers, when hiring, have overwhelmingly asked applicants to come to the job prepared.
The Lee County Education Foundation, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Carolina, is renewing its effort to make sure middle school students in Lee County get a head start on that count.
The Foundation is funding a semester-long Durable Skills Project that proved so successful in Sanford two years ago. Beginning this month, the renewed program will focus on teaching students the 10 specific transferable, long-lasting abilities crucial for success in the workplace and life: Character, Mindfulness, Leadership, Fortitude, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, Metacognition, and Growth Mindset. Employers say those higher-order cognitive abilities stay relevant in a changing, technology-driven world.
Wendy Wicker Phillips, the executive director of the Lee County Education Foundation, said up to 120 students from East Lee, West Lee and SanLee middle schools will take part in the Durable Skills Project, plus an additional 75 Boys & Girls Clubs members.
Delivery will come via an established curriculum taught bi-weekly by Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Carolina staff at the O.T. Sloan Park Club in Sanford. It’ll target middle schoolers and include post-program testing to measure skill growth in participants.
In addition to research indicating that seven of the 10 most-requested skills employers seek are Durable Skills, the top five of those skills are requested nearly five times more than the top five “hard” skills. Communication competencies, which include information exchange and management, are in the highest demand, with 77% of all U.S. job postings requiring at least one durable skill.
“Our team at the Boys & Girls Club is excited to expand our reach into the middle schools through The Durable Skills Project, ” said Jaslyn Walker, the director of workforce development at the Clubs.“Working together with educators allows us to reinforce confidence, leadership, and future-readiness for every student we serve.”
PREVIOUS SUCCESSES
The program was first launched in Lee County in 2022 as a partnership between the Foundation, the Boys & Girls Clubs and First Bank, which funded the entire program’s first-year expenses and half of the second year expenses. As a result of that effort, the number of classes failed by the participants, and the number of absences, each dropped more than 20% overall. At East Lee alone, the number of suspensions, failed classes and school absences decreased by more than 40% each, and 83% of the studentsparticipating gave the project a rating of “4” or “5” on a 1-5 scale, with 5 being “most impactful.”
Among the topics covered in the program, participating students in Lee County listed effective communication, conflict resolution, learning responsibility and building positive relationships as their favorites.
The program was discontinued during leadership vacancies and changes at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Carolina. With a new partnership between the Foundation and Dr. Fallon McIver Brewington, the clubs’ new CEO, and full funding from the Education Foundation, the project is resuming.
“We are excited to relaunch the previously successful Durable Skills Project in our three traditional Lee County Schools middle schools,” Phillips said. “This program meets clear needs for our students and our community.” Phillips expressed gratitude for the Boys & Girls Club’s expertise and commitment to the project and for serving as mentors to participating students.
“We're thrilled the same program will also be used with Boys & Girls Club members at the Club site, expanding both the reach and impact of the project,” she said. “We’re optimistic about what is ahead and hopeful we will be able to continue and expand the Durable Skills Project in the future.”