FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Northern Colorado has found many reasons to pull together in the past year. From enduring the wildfires in the summer of 2020 to the continued challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, this community has searched for—and discovered—new ways to work together.
So when academic data gathered at the beginning of this school year revealed concerns for students at Poudre High School, the community quickly worked to find a solution.
Remote learning was a known challenge, and some students weren’t passing classes for any number of reasons—difficult home environments, spotty Wi-Fi, just to name a few.
What was on the line? High school graduation prospects and overall emotional health.
Colorado Voices
Fort Collins community supports high school students
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High school students paired with in-person tutors to improve pandemic learning
Finding hope with in-person connections and one-on-one tutoring
Deirdre Sullivan is the CEO at the United Way of Larimer County. She’s quick to point out that Northern Colorado has more nonprofits than any part of the state. A resident here for more than 26 years, she knew that this community was up to the challenge and can work together quickly. Organizations will have to focus on what they do best.
“One of the things that emerged from the get-go was, ‘What are the lanes that each of us can occupy?’ There's no time and there is no bandwidth for duplications here. We've got to get in our lanes and do those well,” she said.
Put simply, Sullivan’s organization connects partners with funders. With funding from the Bohemian Foundation and others, United Way of Larimer County began investing in a small cohort of high-priority students.
Sullivan’s team helped generate resources and recruit volunteers. For example, The Matthews House, a Fort Collins organization that helps at-risk families achieve stability, is able to run a remote ‘learning hub’ with the Poudre School District.
Poudre High School Hosts Remote Learning Center
Volunteer tutors were recruited and scheduled, and students were able to meet in-person with all COVID safety protocols in place – even during the height of the pandemic.
Jana Dean, a local veterinarian with twin high school children of her own, knows first-hand how difficult it is to learn in remote environments. Her experience with math and science was needed, so she signed up, committing to tutoring two days a week.
Poudre High School in Fort Collins, CO
She’s been paired with the same young woman each day and says a friendship has grown from their consistent time spent together. So has the student’s confidence. Improved grades from last quarter prove it.
“She was so excited and said, ‘Oh we have wonderful news!’” Dean recalled, sharing the excitement from the student’s voice. “She showed me the grades and she was getting a ‘B’ in her class that she'd previously [been getting] an ‘F’ in. The smile was huge,” she said.
Dean joins other volunteers and community partners in making the Learning Hub work. There are consistently between 25 and 30 students who attend daily.
“It really is like a community of people with different backgrounds that have been able to come together and provide high schoolers with support,” said Caitlin Aslor, the Learning Hub Coordinator for The Matthews House.
Poudre School District is currently operating on a hybrid class schedule. For high schoolers, this means class in-person two days a week with virtual class the remainder of the time. The tutoring program continues to support students four days a week.
More student help on the way
Plans are underway to expand programs to additional schools and grades into the summer.
The Director of Language, Culture and Equity for Poudre School District, John McKay, says this pandemic has shown the vulnerability of families in Northern Colorado. To him, having community partners step in so quickly is making a positive difference.
Dean tutors a freshman student at the remote learning center.
“The Boys and Girls Club of Larimer County is supporting our middle schools and some of our elementary schools. We have our partner AlphaBEST as well as our other school principals providing additional remote learning centers for our elementary schools,” he shared, highlighting the belief that great partnerships have been built during this pandemic.
“Our challenges have always existed,” McKay continued. “This pandemic has helped us see them more realistically in the forefront of our work and we can't lose those lessons we need to make sure that we focus on that in order to serve at the highest level because that's what our students and families deserve here in Fort Collins and PSD.”
This focus of starting small, building confidence, and focusing on your area of expertise may be the silver lining in the past year, one that has given confidence to organizations to explore new opportunities in the future.
“The whole community uniting around supporting children, youth, families, and teachers has been astounding,” added Sullivan. “Now it's on us to keep that momentum going and really capitalize on the community's desire to have a real kid-and-family-focused recovery.”
One thing is for sure: community volunteers like Jana Dean are impressed with this “call to action” and the community’s response.
“I will be here as long as it continues,” Dean said. “As long as there is a need, I’ll be here.”
