Stories that moved us this fall

Heading into the 2021-2022 school year, Colorado Youth for a Change committed to being intentional about collecting stories from our members that celebrate wins, achievements, and celebrations with their students. As we close out 2021, we are taking a grateful look at just a few these stories and wanted to share them with the community that makes these possible!

Colorado Reading Corps member Bella, Greeley-Evans School District 6: “I have been tutoring a 2nd grader who is almost determined to stay distracted, but I have been able to keep him on task (for the most part), and he is making a lot of progress! Previously, this student’s score was 24 words correct with 5 errors. This time he scored 57 correct words with only 1 error. He improved so much compared to his last score on this. When I told him how much he improved, his face lit up and he could not wait to tell his teacher. After our session, he brought his paper to his teacher to show her the progress he is making, and we all celebrated his improvement.”

Colorado Math Corps member Cami, Weld RE-5J School District: “After working with a 7th grade boy for six weeks while he also went through many challenges in his personal life (starting a new school, being diagnosed with ADHD, and more), he told me on Monday, ‘I actually enjoy math. It makes a lot of sense.’ I was beaming when he said this, and it made my day. We have been working hard to get him to a point of understanding multi-digit multiplication and after 6 weeks we finally did it!”

Corps for a Change member Sam, Denver Public Schools: “One student quit his UPS job because he did not like his hours and felt exhausted every day. We revised his resume and applied to a few jobs. Within a few days the student had two job offers. The offer he wanted was for Kum and Go but the interview was a ways away and the student does not have a car or a way to get there via public transportation. I provided transportation for him to get there and come back and he got the job.”

Truancy Reengagement Specialist Chance: “I was able to offer a small gift card as an incentive for a student I work with that was having trouble with their attendance, and I saw their attendance start to improve afterwards. It was awesome to have another tool available to help motivate my caseload when they need it!”

Colorado Reading Corps member Nick, Jeffco Public Schools: “Two of my third graders read 100+ words in their weekly assessment for the first time this year. My heart was literally beating fast as they approached the mark knowing they would make it. I was so happy for them and congratulated them. We also told their teachers.”

Corps for a Change member Brenna, Poudre School District: “My student lives 1.96 miles away from our school and our walk radius (minimum distance that buses will pick students up) is 2 miles. Not having transportation to school was this student’s primary barrier to attendance. He lives in a house with a single mom and 5 younger siblings, none of whom attend the same school. His morning childcare responsibilities prevented him from leaving early enough to walk to school. I sent an appeal through the school, then through the district, then through the transportation department, and finally up to the transportation head and school board asking for an exception so he can attend his first period class. They approved the appeal and added a bus route for him!”

Corps for a Change member Isabelle, Denver Public Schools: “After a long quarter of this student missing class and being on the verge of truancy I finally caught up with the student and had what I thought was a life changing talk. Ever since we had that talk she has been actively showing up to her classes and also catching up with her work.”