Growth and joy blooming this spring

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. Here is a handful of these moments from this spring semester so far!

Colorado Math Corps member Brennan, Thompson School District: “One of my fourth grade students went from not being able to finish one problem on a test to getting 18/20 correct. They were immensely proud, as was I.”

Corps for a Change member Bella, Pueblo: “One of my students was extremely hesitant when we first started meeting. He has gone through so many changes in the last year and is basically on his own in the world. He has no support from adults and is still striving to make something of himself. His attendance was sitting extremely low and he would not come to school for weeks at a time. He is now attending every day since our first meeting and excelling in his classwork and has brought multiple failing grades back up. He is extremely hard working, having two jobs outside of school at this time. I am so very proud of how dedicated he has become to finishing his education. I have seen such a change in him and I am confident he will continue to flourish throughout the year and into the next. We are also looking into some automotive programs currently so that he can pursue a career in his passion.”

Colorado Reading Corps member Kristen, Jeffco Public Schools: “I was lucky enough to have several teachers invite me to sit in on parent conferences this last week. One student was very excited to see me and to have her grandparents see her progress monitor graph. She was thrilled to be reading ‘whole stories’ when previously she had struggled with connected texts. (The above photo is a sweet Valentine she gave me!)”

Colorado Math Corps member Brandi, School District 27J: “I was working with a group of sixth graders on turning fractions to decimals and they were starting to be able to do on their own without any help from me. They all got the problem correct and I said, ‘I knew I was working with geniuses!’ Their faces lit up at that. One girl mentioned that no one has ever told her that she is good at math. Many of the students tell me they “suck at math” or are “dumb.” I do not allow them to say these things during our sessions and I purposely praise them as much as possible with their math skills to hopefully change the narrative in their heads.”

Colorado Reading Corps member Hannah, Greeley-Evans School District 6: “I have a student who really struggles with confidence in his reading. The other day, he saw my textbook on my desk and asked what it was. I explained that I am a teacher and a student just like him. He got so excited to see that I am still learning things too.”