A major highlight of the year was the Ballard High School Foundation’s support for GAINS (Graduation Assistance Impacting the Needs of Students), a program that included 113 students in grades 9-12 during the 2021-22 school year.
While the data for the 2022 graduates is not available yet, the 2020-21 results were very impressive with 24 seniors in the program: 20 graduated, three transferring out of Ballard High School, and one doing a fifth year at Ballard. At least 14 of the 20 had post high school education plans. Also, due to your generous donations, the GAINS staff was able to provide a credit-retrieval program over the summer to help students affected by learning-loss during COVID.
GAINS Student Spotlight by GAINS Coordinator Ross Humphries:
One of our awesome Juniors at Ballard has been in the GAINS program since her Freshman year. Her high school experience has been a roller coaster to say the least. We had the pleasure of working with her brother when he attended Ballard and that made it easy for us to build a strong connection with her. Prior to this year, and at the start of the school year she expressed a strong desire to drop out of school, work, and get her GED. We are so thankful that didn’t happen! The student attends Ballard part time and then attends a SPS Skills Center Program focused on Nursing. She talks about the nursing program with a passion that we have not heard from her before when talking about academics! This student always brightens our day and engages us in conversations that go beyond school! We are so proud of the track she is on and we are excited we have this year and next year with her! We know that she is destined for great things, especially now that she has found her passion!
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