What's ahead in our June newsletter:

• Meet two of our students: Roxie and Sam
• Save the date for our All in for Kids Annual Breakfast: Sept. 26th! Reserve your seat here.
• How our schools celebrated the end of the school year
• Meet our new board members
• Student superlatives... and special recognition for a parent at Paragon Mills.

We wanted to share two student stories from the end of the school year that really highlight the impact and creativity of our school-based program managers. Meet Roxie, a student at Jackson County High School, and Sam, a student at Jere Baxter.

Roxie Rocks Attendance

After a difficult move from Rhode Island, Roxie struggled with anger and poor attendance, missing 35.5 days of school at Jackson County High School last year. This year, regular meetings with her CISTN program manager and a newfound passion for Animal Science were transformative. She only missed 13 days of school, and she is now determined to become a veterinarian and excited about her future.

A Creative Alternative

Sam, a case-managed student at Jere Baxter, faced repeated suspensions from school that were proving ineffective. Our program manager proposed an alternative: volunteer hours. For a week, he diligently helped with attendance, breakfast carts, laptops, and pencil sharpening in a kindergarten class at the elementary school across the street every morning before school. His behavior improved, and he did not miss any of his own classes.

Join us for an inspiring morning to learn more about our work to support students and families across the state.

Thanks to the support of our generous sponsors, the event is free to attend.

Thursday, September 26

7:30 to 9:00 am.

14Tenn (1410 51st Ave N)

Our partner schools and students celebrated the end of the school year with awards, dancing, an attendance competition, and more.

Dancing & Kindness

The Kindness Club at Van Buren High School went above and beyond to help make the middle school's end of the year dance a fun celebration for all. Our program manager at Van Buren founded the Kindness Club to provide social and emotional learning opportunities for students by empowering them to do random acts of kindness around the school building.

Stepping Up

Carter, a CISTN case-managed Kindergarten student at KIPP Kirkpatrick, received a special award for his outstanding progress as an English Language Learner at the school's Stepping Up Ceremonies at the end of the year. Our program manager ensured Carter and all the students looked their best for the ceremony, from washing and pressing gowns to providing grooming assistance.

Pizza Bowl

Our program manager at Bellshire turned attendance into a tasty competition! Their "Pizza Bowl" contest last month had students fired up and classes vying for the top spot on the leaderboard. The competitive spirit was in full swing as students tracked their progress. We love seeing all the creative ways our staff encourages our students!

As we recently shared, we asked our program managers to nominate students for end-of-year superlatives in recognition of the tremendous resilience, hard work, and growth they demonstrated this year. Their progress is inspiring, as is a special nomination we received for a parent at Paragon Mills, Maria. Here is her story:

While Maria and her three children live in apartments considered "walking distance" from Paragon Mills, the reality is that it's pretty far and not a safe walk. Maria works to get her kids to school, and when she saw some neighbors struggling to walk their own kids down the busy street, she made arrangements to drive them as well. She is always willing to help with transportation for families, whether it's because she notices a need or is asked. Her children went from being chronically absent last year to having perfect attendance in Q1 this year!