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America's Promise Bulletin - July 23, 2020
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Lessons Learned about Supporting Students To and Through Graduation
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| High schools across the country are working to ensure their students graduate ready and well for whatever their futures hold, despite the ongoing challenges and uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. During this unprecedented time, it is particularly important to lean on and learn from the promising strategies of states and communities that have made significant strides in improving readiness, wellness, and, ultimately, graduation rates among students who face the greatest barriers.
In order to hear directly from these states, communities, and young people themselves, the GradNation campaign will host a three-part webinar series from July to September, outlining key findings from the past two years of investment in states and communities participating in the Acceleration Initiative. The first webinar, July 30, 2:00 - 3:30 PM ET, will feature the work of Promesa Boyle Heights – a Los Angeles collaborative that has improved the graduation rate of English learners by 25 percentage points through its focus on engaging families and mobilizing the support of community and partner organizations. In this conversation, staff leaders and a youth peer mentor from Promesa will discuss the ways in which they are working collaboratively to address the complex barriers to success in school and life that many young people face, as well as the ways in which they will continue to foster wellness and success in a virtual learning environment this fall.
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| “We talk a lot about belonging and purpose. They’re part of a family.”
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-Aracely Hernandez, Director of Community Schools, Promesa Boyle Heights
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| To take a deeper dive into these and other findings from the Acceleration Initiative, we invite you to explore three new case studies, which feature various examples of promising strategies utilized by states and communities to support students to and through the graduation milestone.
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- Holistic Approaches to Helping Young People Succeed suggests strategies to support young people’s holistic needs in an intentional, comprehensive way.
- Building Responsive Pathways to Graduation and Beyond outlines strategies to create meaningful pathways that lead young people to viable career opportunities after they complete high school.
- Creating Effective Youth-Supporting Partnerships highlights the ways in which states and communities have leveraged strategic collaboration to promote success for students facing the greatest obstacles to graduation.
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How Learning Happens during COVID-19
We’ve heard young people’s perspectives on their social, emotional, and cognitive learning experiences—but what does that look like currently, in the midst of COVID-19? On July 16, America’s Promise hosted a virtual conversation with staff and young people from three exemplar high schools, exploring the ways in which they are maintaining structures for holistic learning during the current pandemic. Students and school leaders alike emphasized the importance of community and belonging, protecting student agency, and maintaining a commitment to meaningful learning opportunities.
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“I was away from the [school] building, but that support helped me cope with being away from the building. There were a lot of students that needed help but didn’t know how to ask for it. How did that support make me feel? It made me feel loved.”
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-Don Brewer, student, Benito Juarez Community Academy (Chicago, IL)
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“The school does a good job of not just including the faculty but including the students as well. They’re not just talking about what staff and teachers want; I truly believe that they want what students want.”
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-Patton Byars, student, River Bluff High School (Lexington, SC)
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“[We are] learning about topics in classes that we feel will actually benefit us after high school. [Our student group] is thinking about how we can use this material to keep students engaged so we’re learning something that we’ll be glad we learned later on.”
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-Jazmin Moran, student, Tacoma School of the Arts (Tacoma, WA)
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“[COVID] has forced many of our students to be the essential workers in their own families. Many have not been able to be present in virtual classes during the day, but they are able to check in at 10:00 PM. We have had to redefine what student engagement really is - focusing on learning, not on seat time.”
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-Juan Carlos Ocón, principal, Benito Juarez Community Academy (Chicago, IL)
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“We believe that if we create space for student voice and choice and the realness of our current experiences, students will want to learn and grow.”-Jenna Howell, assistant principal, River Bluff High School (Lexington, SC)
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-Jenna Howell, assistant principal, River Bluff High School (Lexington, SC)
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“It’s really hard to not be able to see our students in the building. As we go into the fall, we need to listen to our students and have them at the table as we plan.” -Renee Froembling, co-director, Tacoma School of the Arts (Tacoma, WA)
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| Throughout the conversation, the student panelists reinforced that school leaders must recognize the toll that recent events have taken on their lives. They recommended that when school reopens—whether virtually or in-person—administrators offer a space for students to engage in conversations around learning, race, and current events, which have had a profound effect on their well-being.
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More From America’s Promise:
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Funding Opportunities:
- New Profit | Deadline July 27: New Profit will make unrestricted $1 million grants to organizations that actively advance the wellbeing of their constituents. These include organizations advancing social and emotional learning and mental health in education.
- Whole Kids Foundation | Ongoing: This funding opportunity provides communities and organizations with grants to teach food sustainability, impart young people with entrepreneurial skills, and promote children’s health and nutrition.
- Third Wave Fund | Ongoing: This grant offers funding to support the leadership of young women of color, trans, gender non-conforming, queer, and intersex youth under 35 in social movements.
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation | Ongoing: The foundation is providing organizations with grants to support schools, students, and families, including an initiative to strengthen the movement for racial justice and immigrant rights by providing the next generation of Black immigrant youth with training initiatives and capacity building to become community leaders.
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America’s Promise Alliance is the driving force behind a nationwide movement to improve the lives and futures of America’s youth. If you would like to help make the promise of America real for every child, consider donating below.
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