Coaches Help Boost Graduation Rates
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
The 2010-11 school year was the first year for the graduation coaches at Warsaw Community, Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee high schools. Each school has two graduation coaches, except Warsaw which has three.
Concerned with area graduation rates hovering around the 75 to 82 percent rate, a group of community and school officials in 2009 formed a dropout prevention committee. Meeting twice a month since July 2009, the committee developed two objectives they hoped would have an impact on local dropout rates.
At the high schools, the committee put graduation coaches in place. A mentoring program at the elementary and middle school levels encourages younger students to stay in school.
Ben Rogers is a graduation coach at Valley.
Rogers said he was responsible for the 17 students. Of those 17, nine of them were seniors. Of the nine seniors, eight of them walked at commencement. The other student will finish this summer.
“Some of the challenges included trying to keep the students motivated to graduate. A lot of these students developed some bad academic habits over the years. Breaking them from these habits was also a challenge. The best thing that worked well for me was being able to develop a good rapport with them,” Rogers said.
A couple of the students that graduated had never gotten all passing grades until this year. It was very neat to see how proud they got, he said.
“We are always looking for ways to keep these students motivated. Guest speakers would be great. Any other ways to show that the community cares about these students would also be good,” Rogers suggested.
Anne Rackley is a graduation coach at Wawasee.
Rackley said she worked with 29 seniors, but also consulted with five other seniors and four juniors. Of the 34 seniors, all but four will graduate. Two even graduated early in February.
“I would say that many of them would have probably made it without coaches, but may have been much closer to the brink than they are with a coach; but around 19 of them may have not done it without the coaching program,” Rackley said.
As the alternative education director, she said her struggles are always with attendance.
“The seniors that I coached all have jobs or other extenuating circumstances which interfere with school. For many of them, they lack the support system to encourage them to keep their eyes on the prize, so they choose the things that offer instant gratification, like the almighty dollar. A lot of our conversations include my soapbox speech about how much more money they will make once they have a diploma and how that diploma can lead to higher dollar opportunities if they continue on to even some post-secondary education or training,” Rackley said.
To improve the program at Wawasee next year, she said, the coaches will work some of their funding into inviting speakers to motivate the group.
“We also want to take field trips to different types of post-secondary schools and businesses. These goals will be easily met, since we at Wawasee are implementing a new schedule which will include resource and remediation time,” Rackley said. “My coaching partner, Jeff Phillips, and I will share this time in our lecture room with all of our seniors combined. Valley and Warsaw already do this, and the large group promotes camaraderie, positive peer influence and shared enthusiasm.”
Asked how her students responded to her coaching, Rackley said, “At first, I think they were a little freaked out by it. Some didn’t really consider themselves ‘that’ at-risk. But then they were immediately grateful. Their teachers were very willing to assist our kids when we coaches stepped in and asked for help. Our access to their grades was key in keeping the kids on track. We could nag about outstanding assignments and tests that were in need of making up. By the end, they were leaning on us.”
Like the other graduation coaches, Rackley has several success stories.
She said, “Many students were able to catch up and get their heads above water early on and not need the program. That was a relief for many of them, their parents, and their counselors. The even better success stories, though, are the students who come back in the fall and finish up. Though they didn’t get to ‘walk’ with their class, they still knew that a diploma with any date on it is better than no diploma at all.”
Graduation coaches at Warsaw are Steve Henn, David Bailey and Amanda Scroggs. Each coach works with 15 students.
“I think it has not been perfect, but it’s been a success after all,” Henn said.
Next year will be better, he said, because the graduation coaches will spend time with their students every day. One of the roadblocks this year was the limited access to the students.
Henn said he had one student drop out a couple of weeks before graduation, but that was a real tough case. Another students’ chemistry grade was questionable. Other than those two, Henn said the remaining of his 15 students will be OK.
For next year, Scroggs said, Warsaw got a mini-technology grant from Warsaw Community Schools for $20,000 worth of computer equipment for the Senior Success Center. The coaches’ students will meet in the Center next school year.
Scroggs also reported they received a Red Apple Grant from the Warsaw Education Foundation for $675 for a wellness workshop. With the Warsaw School Board approval, the coaches also have applied for an alternative education grant from the Indiana Department of Education to further develop and support the program.
“In my group of 15, it’s been a really positive experience personally and professionally, and rewarding to get to know my lovely students,” Scroggs said. “All we can do is be an education champion for them and mentor them and believe in them and sit back and watch them walk across the stage June 10.”
For the 2011-12 school year, Scroggs said they had 90 students eligible for the program, but only 45 will be chosen.
“Our goal is that seniors feel that someone in this building really cares about them and in turn they pay it forward,” Scroggs said.
Senior Alexcis Hanna worked with Scroggs this year.
“It’s just nice to have someone to keep on you about stuff you have to do,” Hanna said. “It’s nice she keeps me to stay in school. She’s very, very helpful and loving.”
Hanna applied and was accepted to Ivy Tech, IUSB and IPFW. Scroggs said Hanna now has choices she didn’t know she had before.
Another student graduating after working with Scroggs is Mandy Gayheart.
“Mrs. Scroggs is honestly the reason I’m here,” Gayheart said. “Otherwise, I’d skip school every day.”
She said school is “just a drag most days,” but Scroggs keeps a positive attitude at the school.
Gayheart applied to four colleges and was accepted to all. Because of money reasons, Scroggs said Gayheart probably will start at the new Ivy Tech in Warsaw. She will be the first to go to college in her family.
“I think it’s gone very well,” Bailey said. “There’s been some high and low points and that’s part of the learning curve for us.”
“Overall,” Scroggs said, “the idea is that failure is not an option.”
“We’re constantly thinking of new ways to make it better,” said Bailey.
For next year, Scroggs said, they want to welcome families in and help families through their students’ senior year. They are open to community support and guest speakers.
“We feel like we had a successful start,” said Scroggs. “We’re thankful to the administration, Dr. Hintz, the school board for supporting us and believing in us in doing what we know is essential for these seniors.”[[In-content Ad]]
The 2010-11 school year was the first year for the graduation coaches at Warsaw Community, Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee high schools. Each school has two graduation coaches, except Warsaw which has three.
Concerned with area graduation rates hovering around the 75 to 82 percent rate, a group of community and school officials in 2009 formed a dropout prevention committee. Meeting twice a month since July 2009, the committee developed two objectives they hoped would have an impact on local dropout rates.
At the high schools, the committee put graduation coaches in place. A mentoring program at the elementary and middle school levels encourages younger students to stay in school.
Ben Rogers is a graduation coach at Valley.
Rogers said he was responsible for the 17 students. Of those 17, nine of them were seniors. Of the nine seniors, eight of them walked at commencement. The other student will finish this summer.
“Some of the challenges included trying to keep the students motivated to graduate. A lot of these students developed some bad academic habits over the years. Breaking them from these habits was also a challenge. The best thing that worked well for me was being able to develop a good rapport with them,” Rogers said.
A couple of the students that graduated had never gotten all passing grades until this year. It was very neat to see how proud they got, he said.
“We are always looking for ways to keep these students motivated. Guest speakers would be great. Any other ways to show that the community cares about these students would also be good,” Rogers suggested.
Anne Rackley is a graduation coach at Wawasee.
Rackley said she worked with 29 seniors, but also consulted with five other seniors and four juniors. Of the 34 seniors, all but four will graduate. Two even graduated early in February.
“I would say that many of them would have probably made it without coaches, but may have been much closer to the brink than they are with a coach; but around 19 of them may have not done it without the coaching program,” Rackley said.
As the alternative education director, she said her struggles are always with attendance.
“The seniors that I coached all have jobs or other extenuating circumstances which interfere with school. For many of them, they lack the support system to encourage them to keep their eyes on the prize, so they choose the things that offer instant gratification, like the almighty dollar. A lot of our conversations include my soapbox speech about how much more money they will make once they have a diploma and how that diploma can lead to higher dollar opportunities if they continue on to even some post-secondary education or training,” Rackley said.
To improve the program at Wawasee next year, she said, the coaches will work some of their funding into inviting speakers to motivate the group.
“We also want to take field trips to different types of post-secondary schools and businesses. These goals will be easily met, since we at Wawasee are implementing a new schedule which will include resource and remediation time,” Rackley said. “My coaching partner, Jeff Phillips, and I will share this time in our lecture room with all of our seniors combined. Valley and Warsaw already do this, and the large group promotes camaraderie, positive peer influence and shared enthusiasm.”
Asked how her students responded to her coaching, Rackley said, “At first, I think they were a little freaked out by it. Some didn’t really consider themselves ‘that’ at-risk. But then they were immediately grateful. Their teachers were very willing to assist our kids when we coaches stepped in and asked for help. Our access to their grades was key in keeping the kids on track. We could nag about outstanding assignments and tests that were in need of making up. By the end, they were leaning on us.”
Like the other graduation coaches, Rackley has several success stories.
She said, “Many students were able to catch up and get their heads above water early on and not need the program. That was a relief for many of them, their parents, and their counselors. The even better success stories, though, are the students who come back in the fall and finish up. Though they didn’t get to ‘walk’ with their class, they still knew that a diploma with any date on it is better than no diploma at all.”
Graduation coaches at Warsaw are Steve Henn, David Bailey and Amanda Scroggs. Each coach works with 15 students.
“I think it has not been perfect, but it’s been a success after all,” Henn said.
Next year will be better, he said, because the graduation coaches will spend time with their students every day. One of the roadblocks this year was the limited access to the students.
Henn said he had one student drop out a couple of weeks before graduation, but that was a real tough case. Another students’ chemistry grade was questionable. Other than those two, Henn said the remaining of his 15 students will be OK.
For next year, Scroggs said, Warsaw got a mini-technology grant from Warsaw Community Schools for $20,000 worth of computer equipment for the Senior Success Center. The coaches’ students will meet in the Center next school year.
Scroggs also reported they received a Red Apple Grant from the Warsaw Education Foundation for $675 for a wellness workshop. With the Warsaw School Board approval, the coaches also have applied for an alternative education grant from the Indiana Department of Education to further develop and support the program.
“In my group of 15, it’s been a really positive experience personally and professionally, and rewarding to get to know my lovely students,” Scroggs said. “All we can do is be an education champion for them and mentor them and believe in them and sit back and watch them walk across the stage June 10.”
For the 2011-12 school year, Scroggs said they had 90 students eligible for the program, but only 45 will be chosen.
“Our goal is that seniors feel that someone in this building really cares about them and in turn they pay it forward,” Scroggs said.
Senior Alexcis Hanna worked with Scroggs this year.
“It’s just nice to have someone to keep on you about stuff you have to do,” Hanna said. “It’s nice she keeps me to stay in school. She’s very, very helpful and loving.”
Hanna applied and was accepted to Ivy Tech, IUSB and IPFW. Scroggs said Hanna now has choices she didn’t know she had before.
Another student graduating after working with Scroggs is Mandy Gayheart.
“Mrs. Scroggs is honestly the reason I’m here,” Gayheart said. “Otherwise, I’d skip school every day.”
She said school is “just a drag most days,” but Scroggs keeps a positive attitude at the school.
Gayheart applied to four colleges and was accepted to all. Because of money reasons, Scroggs said Gayheart probably will start at the new Ivy Tech in Warsaw. She will be the first to go to college in her family.
“I think it’s gone very well,” Bailey said. “There’s been some high and low points and that’s part of the learning curve for us.”
“Overall,” Scroggs said, “the idea is that failure is not an option.”
“We’re constantly thinking of new ways to make it better,” said Bailey.
For next year, Scroggs said, they want to welcome families in and help families through their students’ senior year. They are open to community support and guest speakers.
“We feel like we had a successful start,” said Scroggs. “We’re thankful to the administration, Dr. Hintz, the school board for supporting us and believing in us in doing what we know is essential for these seniors.”[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092