Briana Nickols, Mentoring Coach

Briana NicholsBriana Nickols was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She recently graduated from Cleveland State University in May 2009. While there she majored in Health Sciences and minored in Black Studies. Soon after graduation she pursued her passion for working with children when she began working at Youth Opportunities Unlimited. She was employed as a Summer Youth Coordinator for the Summer Job Program. This program provided summer jobs for over 3,000 children across Cuyahoga County between the ages of 14-18. This program gave opportunities to children who otherwise might not have them. This program gave Briana the experiece of working with all different ages and attitudes and effective measures of dealing with issues and problem solving.

Briana is currently a graduate student at John Carroll University where she is pursuing her Master's degree in Adolescent and Young Adult Education. Her major is Integrated Language Arts and she plans to be teaching in a classroom within the next five years. After graduation she will be licensed to teach 7th-12th grade Language Arts. After receiving her Master's degree she plans to continue and get her Doctorate degree as well.

Briana enjoys working with children because she truly believes that children are our future. We have to give them the tools they need in order to help them succeed in life. Children are so full of life and curiousity and can make a gray day sunny! She believs our children need positive influences and ways to express themselves and she wants to be that positive influence.

Briana enjoys working for Open Doors because the program is geared mostly toward student educational advancement, while at the same time enhancing the emotional, social and developmental needs of the students. She believes in this program because the program works! She has seen first hand how this program has made a difference in the children's lives who have participated and graduated and moved on to the next phases in their lives. One goal she has is to make a difference in at least one child's life with her time at Open Doors as a Mentoring Coach. She will strive to make a difference with all the children, but if at least one child can say Open Doors has been their safe space and an outlet to their personal and academic struggles, she will feel good about that!