Alenka Žnidaršič started volunteering with Impact on Education over two years ago after volunteering with her son’s school. She first helped review grant applications before becoming more involved with our fundraising and events. 

Originally from Slovenia, Alenka received a Masters in Information Technology before obtaining her PhD in electro-technical engineering from the University of Ljubljana. She started working with artificial intelligence (AI) technology and became fascinated by the connection between people and technology.

Through her education and travels, Alenka learned four languages and is quadrilingual, speaking Dutch, English, German and Slovenian. She moved to Colorado 10 years ago alongside her husband and son. Her son was 5 when they moved which gave Alenka the opportunity to volunteer in his classroom during his early education.

Why she values education

During her own early education in Slovenia, Alenka’s school placed great emphasis on developing critical thinking skills and an appreciation for others’ differences. The latter was not something she saw being valued in the U.S. education system and one of the reasons she is so passionate about early childhood education. She would like to bring some of the values from her home country to help improve education in the U.S., particularly the awareness and acceptance of differences and diverse identities. 

Alenka’s family was another element that drove her commitment to education. Coming from a family of educators, she started helping out in her mother’s classroom as a child. She says, “technology has my heart, but teaching is a close second.” After obtaining her degrees, she taught computer science to elementary school students. She also mentored children through the Scouts of Slovenia, helping to foster a curious learning environment.

“Technology has my heart, but teaching is a close second.”

Alenka Žnidaršič

Her work with Impact on Education

Alenka first started volunteering with us two years ago, helping review applications for our Classroom Innovation Grants. These awards go to BVSD teachers focusing on instructional innovation to enhance student learning in the classroom. She loves watching these applications turn into classroom innovations. 

In addition to the grant reviews, she now supports our Fundraising & Special Events Committee, helping our staff plan and orchestrate events. Alenka’s educational and career focus of bringing people together through technology is especially helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic, where we’ve seen a heightened need for virtual events and interactions.

A love for adventure

Outside of her work as a leadership development coach and volunteering, Alenka is passionate about spending time outside. She particularly enjoys skiing, hiking, climbing and kayaking. Alenka and her family love traveling and have an appreciation for meeting people from and experiencing different cultures and perspectives. With the pandemic making traveling more difficult, they’re enjoying playing strategic and collaborative family games, such as Settlers of Catan.

Premier Members Credit Union is passionate about supporting education in our community. Growing from a small financial institution serving teachers in the Boulder Valley School District, to one that serves tens of thousands of members throughout Colorado and nationwide, they recognize the importance of financial literacy and responsibility as a critical educational tool.

Bringing banking to high schools

In 2009, PMCU partnered with Boulder High School to open the Panther Student Credit Union. Their partnership offered unique and valuable hands-on learning experiences for students to dip their toes into the world of finance and business. After the initial success of the Panther Student Credit Union, Premier Members created similar programs in three other high schools in the Boulder Valley School District. In 2010, Fairview High School launched the Knight Student Credit Union, and Monarch High School launched the Coyote Student Credit Union, while Centaurus High School opened the Warrior Student Credit Union in 2011. Each of these credit unions are primarily student run with oversight from Premier Members’ team members.

The student experience

High school students are recruited in the spring to work at their school’s respective credit union for the following academic year. After completing two training sessions at a Premier Members branch during the summer, students are equipped with the skills needed to run their school’s credit union. Each student receives similar training to the professional tellers in Premier Members’ branches.

“Promoting financial literacy, and operating the high school branches exemplifies Premier Members’ commitment to building lasting relationships that strengthen the communities that we serve. Providing educational opportunities and supporting the financial literacy of our youth is a staple of the “Premier” experience.”

Susan Finesilver, AVP Community Relations at Premier Members Credit Union

While school is in session full-time, students working at their school branches are well-equipped to independently operate the credit union. Students are responsible for setting up daily, managing the cash box, helping members and prospective members with their accounts, and working with confidential information. Student interns receive both an hourly wage and elective business credits throughout the school year.

Real-world financial skills

Each student working at a student credit union engages with real-world personal finance situations during their high school experience, allowing them to build financial literacy in a safe and structured environment.

All student members develop money management skills and come to understand the importance of saving for the future. They gain experience managing their own debit card and checking account and finding appropriate ways to establish and maintain good credit for future use. Not only do student interns successfully learn financial management skills, they experience committing to a position for an extended period of time. The students get to experience being professional and working with a business in a structured and secure environment. They develop unique cash handling skills as they deposit money into different accounts with larger transactions while keeping member information confidential. In addition to the cash handling skills, students learn and use other bank teller skills, as well.

“The student interns are learning critical skills that are applicable to anyone, not just those interested in finance.”

Steve Carr, Student Branch Liaison at Premier Members Credit Union

This is a rigorous program that both requires and instills student commitment and responsibility. Students leave the program with a toolkit full of self-initiative, responsibility, and critical financial and business skills. While it is not required, students often stay with the credit union until they graduate, and train younger students for their position.

The next step for Premier Members’ student credit unions

When schools shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, the four student-run credit unions were forced to temporarily close as well. Premier Members is exploring ways to relaunch the program amidst our new high school environments.

We’re offering a forum for our Student Advisory Board members to share their voice through guest blog posts. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Impact on Education.

A Teenager’s Journey to Connect Through Letter Writing

By Emery Jansen

The past year has been horrific in countless ways; tragedies hit all communities one after the other, and it has been challenging to keep ourselves afloat. In the beginning, there was an aura of surrealism that encapsulated everyone. It was an enjoyable kind of unprecedented fun even. No one we knew had COVID in those first few weeks when everyone learned how to make double- and triple-layered masks; it was just an extended spring break and a hefty dose of dysregulation. Signs reading, “We will get through this together,” and “This too shall pass,” littered our cities and social media feeds. Unfortunately though, those days of pandemic glory wore off quickly; this still has not passed. The past year has been one of distance and each-man-for-himself sentiments; more than 12 months in and some self-entitled citizens still refuse to consider someone, anyone, other than themselves. 

Despite these collective grievances and our own individual sufferings, not everything was negative. In March of 2020, I found myself grappling with the loss of my life as I knew it, as all of us did. Everything was unknown, and I spiraled as the uncertainties around me swept me up with them. As a member of the generation deemed conceited and overly-absorbed in the online world, I sat in a resounding inability to feel, to connect, to do anything other than simply survive. I’m sure many of my peers can attest to this: even those who weren’t textbook-compliant with the various COVID mandates and were still socializing felt the shift. By chance, I came upon an opportunity to keep myself afloat and, as I found out later, cultivate intimate relationships with those who compose my world.

My letter-writing empire began on March 29, 2020, when a friend of mine got an envelope in the mail, covered in haphazard, pen-drawn hearts. It was sent by one of their friends wanting to bring a smile to the faces around her. I contemplated this occurrence for a while, realizing just how grateful I would be and important I would feel if someone did the same for me, even with simple communication. So, I determinedly drafted a list of 13 people to write to, pen on paper, a stamp in the upper-righthand corner, the whole lost art of letter writing. I wrote my favorite memories I shared with each person, lamented about what I would miss the most about them in our time apart during lockdown (unfortunately, I am still missing these traits of the people I love). I asked them questions about what we would typically be discussing in-person. Twelve out of those original 13 letters arrived at their destinations, the vast majority bound for friends and teammates, though two meandered their way to Wisconsin with my cousins’ names on them. The last was vacuumed into the space-time continuum and still hasn’t been delivered.

Now, almost exactly one year since I wrote my first letters, I have sent and received over 200 letters, with a group of people who have morphed only slightly since 12 months ago. I wrote letters to my best friend daily, passed a travel-destination list back and forth with other friends, traded music suggestions, laughed at terribly embarrassing anecdotes, stared in wonderment at my friends’ calligraphy talent, became acquainted with my aunt as the human she is, reconnected with a middle school friend to support her through intense tragedy, tantalizingly listed the most arbitrary tidbits about myself, learned more about friends I’ve made recently, and, most regrettably, stamped and sent an unfortunately colorful letter to my crush at the time. I wish I were kidding on the last one. However, all the others sent me running to the mailbox almost daily in hopes that I would find a response waiting for me. This may sound cheesy, a 16-year-old writing letters to stay connected when there are virtual ways to communicate instantly, but I have found this lost art to be the epitome of what I need right now: an unmatched opportunity to express myself creatively, encouragement to stay patient, and finally, an ability to ground myself in the present and in found moments to forget the world’s realities of the past year.

About the author

Emery Jansen is a junior at Fairview High School and a member of our Student Advisory Board. She is passionate about all things creative–including embroidery, photography, drawing, writing, and running her own business. Emery is also a vehement advocate for social justice and mental health awareness, valuing the connections she holds with those around her more than everything else in her life.

When the COVID-19 pandemic required schools to close, we jumped into action, raising more than $600,000 to meet the critical needs of students, families, and schools in the Boulder Valley School District.

One year later, we’re sharing an update on how our Critical Needs Fund and Student Academic Support Fund addressed vital needs for our students including food security, the digital divide, and supplemental learning. We are proud of the work we’ve accomplished and hope you are too.

How funds were invested

$265,000 invested in supplemental instruction

• Targeted tutoring for 3rd-8th grade students
• ACT/SAT preparatory courses for high school juniors
• Funding for all BVSD high school students needing to retake failed or incomplete coursework
• Additional instruction, technology and curriculum to keep students engaged and on grade level

$165,000 to ensure families have food on the table

• Supported emergency food distribution of nearly 2 million meals through BVSD Food Services
• Delivered grocery gift cards to 450 high needs families

$100,000 to provide a safe and stable place for students to learn

• Eliminated child care debt for 53 BVSD families in financial need
• Providing supervised care before and after 2021 summer learning to ensure all students who qualify can participate 

$60,000 to enable access to remote learning

• Provided 1,500 families with internet access through BVSD IT
• Supported the distribution of 6,000 chromebooks
• Deployed hotspots to families in need of more reliable service

$12,000 to equip elementary students with supplies

• Acquired and distributed 3,000 backpacks filled with school supplies for elementary school students when remote learning began 

$10,000 to keep kids reading at home

• Purchased thousands of books to distribute to families so students had reading material at home during the lockdowns in spring 2020 
• Collected and distributed thousands more books in the fall that reached students before winter break

On the horizon

We will continue meeting the critical needs of BVSD students this spring and summer and are committed to ensuring students facing opportunity gaps receive the support they need to stay engaged in learning.

A recent study by McKinsey & Company estimates that “students on average could lose five to nine months of learning by the end of June 2021. Students of color could be six to 12 months behind, compared with four to eight months for white students.” This translates to an average loss of “three months of learning in mathematics and one-and-a-half months of learning in reading.”

We are planning ways to provide supplemental instruction next school year and are committed to making sure that the disruptions to student learning in 2020-21 do not lead to long-term or permanent deficits for the students in our community, especially those who are traditionally underserved.

By Karen Antonacci

Carly Hare’s Pawnee name <i kita u hoo <i ]a hiks — which translates to “kind leader of men” — turned out to be prophetic as the Impact on Education board vice chair has made a career of navigating the intersections of philanthropy, identity and equity.

A family that values education

Carly is a citizen of the Pawnee nation and grew up in rural tribal Oklahoma. Her family placed immense value on education.

“Both of my grandfathers — one was full-blood Pawnee and one was full-blood Yankton — they were college graduates in the 1940s,” she said. “My grandma that married my Pawnee grandfather … she went back to school in the 1960s because my grandfather said it was the best insurance policy she could have, to have an education and be independent and support herself and the family if she needed to.”

Building a career

Carly started at Colorado Mesa State College (now Mesa State University) on a full-ride scholarship as a biology major. By the end of her freshman year, she had lost her scholarship.

“It took me three semesters to figure out how to study and I made a major shift,” she said. “I switched my major to mass communication and a focus on public relations and it took five years before I graduated. But it was a good shift, because I knew I could be a science communicator and I could understand math and science in a way that a lot of people don’t have easy access to.”

Carly had to work three jobs the rest of her college career to continue her education.

When she graduated, she started a long track record of working for national native nonprofit organizations including the Council of Energy Resource Tribes, the Native American Rights Fund and serving as executive director of Native Americans in Philanthropy.

She became aware of Impact on Education when she worked as a program director at the Community Foundation Boulder County. Additionally, Carly has served on the boards of numerous nonprofits and advised and educated philanthropic professionals about improving diversity and inclusion.

Focusing on the underserved

“Predominantly the last 11 years professionally I’ve been working on this movement that is asking how do we change philanthropic practices and relationships to center on traditionally underinvested-in communities,” she explained.

Carly uses that expertise as the vice chair of the IOE board by leading on diversity, equity and inclusion work. That dovetails nicely with IOE’s work to fill the gaps for BVSD students to make sure they have all the resources they need to succeed.

“I hope to be able to bring those resources, skills and frameworks into IOE around our internal culture and climate change we’re going through with priority and commitment work, and then externally we are thinking about the evolution of how we are supporting students and the district at large,” she said. “It is a really great way to bring what has been strategy and theory into actual practice.”

In her career, Carly said she has learned that successful nonprofits go to the communities they serve for solutions to problems.

“We can’t find a solution for other people and expect it to stick. No matter how well-intentioned and resourced we are, it won’t be as successful as when we’re in actual communication and partnership and discussion and active community building with the impacted and affected communities.”

Helping students find their path

In terms of big-picture goals for Impact on Education, Carly draws from her own public school and collegiate experiences. She feels it’s important that students have access to education that encourages critical analysis as well as offers opportunities for them to explore their passions.

“Education should allow students to be fully present, so the arts and culture and athletics are high priorities for me. I want to bring forward that really robust access to fully engaged students to see where they can thrive and the tools they need to succeed in the future,” she said.

Setting students up to succeed in the future means supporting them as they transition to a postsecondary educational journey, whether it’s a trade school, courses in leadership and small business management or a traditional college experience, Carly added.

“Those pieces I don’t think were offered as readily or accessible 20 years ago,” she mused. “Now, we can think about how we help people find their passion and pathways and outline what those could actually look like so you don’t feel like you’re stumbling through it all.”

For the past 28 years, we’ve honored individuals in the Boulder Valley School District at our annual Impact Awards. This celebration recognizes one person from each of Boulder Valley’s 56 schools making an extraordinary impact on student learning because of their exceptional collaboration, innovation, and dedication to students. We also award one educator with the Blake Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award and another with the Imogene Maxon Early Teacher Award.

This year, we’re seeing so many people stepping up for our students, we decided to recognize  the entire BVSD community through the Impact Awards: Community Edition.

Why we’re celebrating you

Every single person involved in education—teachers, staff, administrators, parents, and students—has gone above and beyond this school year, demonstrating their commitment to education and our students. So this year, in the most extraordinary school year we’ve faced thus far, we’re recognizing the entire BVSD community with an Impact Award.

• Educators, thank you for engaging students and families and keeping them at the forefront of decisions.
• Students, thank you for adapting and staying committed to learning through this difficult year.
• Parents, thank you for your patience and flexibility during a very challenging school year.
• Supporters, thank you for standing with us to show the strength of our community.

How we’re saying thank you

We didn’t let an historic snowstorm get in the way of saying thank you. We hope you were able to see our messaging throughout the community this week. Here’s what you might have missed:

• Our BIG thank you in the Daily Camera on Sunday, March 14, 2021
• Banners and yard signs at every BVSD school
• Posters and stickers at schools and local businesses
• Emails and posts of gratitude on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

We’re thankful for our presenting sponsor, Premier Members Credit Union, in addition to Google, Comcast and the Boulder Valley Education Association for allowing us to recognize our incredible BVSD community through this gratitude campaign.

Special discounts through the end of the school year

We’re thrilled to partner with 25 businesses offering special discounts for the BVSD community through the end of the school year. It’s been a tough year for our small business community as well, and we’re grateful so many were able to join us in saying thank you.

From coffee shops to bookstores to local restaurants, we hope something on the list brings your family some extra joy.

Looking ahead

It’s too early to say what next year’s Impact Awards will look like, though we sure hope to celebrate with you in person. Regardless of how many educators we’re able to recognize each year, please know: we appreciate you!

We’re offering a forum for our Student Advisory Board members to share their voice through guest blog posts. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Impact on Education.

A New Pandemic: Teen Overdoses

By Abby Cohen

As we approach the one-year mark of the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, a new pandemic is coming to light: the opioid crisis. Obviously, this is nothing new to any American. Drug overdoses have been a major cause of death among citizens for years. But in Boulder County, an alarming and abnormal number of opioid overdoses among teens in our community have occurred within the last few months.

Teen overdoses in Boulder County

On February 6th, Boulder County released an article warning of fentanyl-laced Xanax and Oxycodone pills, two drugs popular among recreational users. Even without coroner reports for recent teen deaths, there is substantial evidence that laced drugs are circulating the streets of our county.

The only way to reverse an opioid overdose is by using a drug called Narcan, also known as Naloxone. This drug is easy to use; it’s administered by nasal spray. However, Narcan is expensive and often requires more than one dose to revive someone. Narcan can be provided by pharmacies for free to someone with Medicaid, but it tends to cost around $120 if bought at a pharmacy. This makes Narcan hard to obtain. Local rehabilitation facilities such as Natural Highs offer free Narcan and training on how to use it. This is an amazing aid to our community, but it still doesn’t reach everyone at risk for drug overdoses. 

How BVSD can address the opioid crisis

I’m confident drug overdoses among my fellow teens would decrease if there were a location where BVSD students could anonymously pickup Narcan for free. A petition was started by a Colorado high school student to require schools to provide students with Narcan, drug testing strips, and training sessions on how to assist someone who is overdosing. At the time of the writing of this blog, the petition has 4,819 signatures.

4,819 is more students than the total enrollment of Boulder High School and Fairview High School combined. Clearly, there’s a consensus among my peers and me that change is necessary, but I’m concerned this petition won’t be enough to make change.  

In order for this petition to create positive change, we need the support of BVSD educators and parents.

If the people paying taxes to fund the schools demand change, the district is much more likely to listen. We need more parents, teachers and staff sharing and signing this petition, and we need them to communicate their complaints directly to the schools and to our district leaders. Every voice makes a difference, as we cannot afford to lose another classmate due to drugs, when we have the power to save them.

Abby Cohen is a graduating senior at Fairview High School and a member of Impact on Education’s Student Advisory Board.

Chris Snedeker was looking for a way to serve the community when an email from Impact on Education dropped into his inbox. For Chris, serving his community is about engaging with people on a personal level and paying it forward. BVSD and Impact on Education have been ever-present entities in his life as his kids wound their way through the school system. The many challenges and great people—teachers, administrators and of course, their friends—on that path always impressed him, so it was easy to say yes to a request for help distributing food to BVSD student families.

Behind the scenes

After an online training, Chris was given a confidential list of eight BVSD student families who needed food deliveries. He showed up at Columbine Elementary School early the next Monday unsure of what to expect. The day prior he made a practice run to ensure all of the student’s homes were accessible. 

At Columbine, Chris was greeted with cheerful smiles—yes, you can see twinkling eyes above those masks—helpful guidance and kind gestures. The BVSD personnel were busy pulling cartons of food off trucks, stuffing individual bags of food and organizing gallons of milk. Despite how busy they were, they took time to walk him through the procedure: delivering one and one-half gallons of milk and a full grocery bag to each student, each week. 

“I encountered people who were energetic, conscientious and fun to work with.” 

On the road making deliveries

Setting off to make the deliveries, Chris didn’t know what to expect at the other end. BVSD advised volunteers to make contact and be friendly, but maintain distance. What he found with each and every delivery was someone who came to the door, smiled at him and said thanks with an evident depth of gratitude. This was true of each of the five households (eight kids). After a couple of weeks, the deliveries were doubled to 16 kids, but the friendly welcome and gracious appreciation continued. 

Chris continues to deliver food each Monday to make sure BVSD students have the nourishment they need to tackle their studies. He says he is struck by the consideration, gratitude and friendliness he encounters at every step of this journey. 

Paying it forward

“I’m having fun and thankful for the opportunity to engage with members of our community that I rarely see,” Chris says. By giving in this way, Chris is seeing his own horizons expand. Helping the community he raised his family in is further strengthening his ties to Boulder, Impact on Education and BVSD.

Interested in volunteering with us? Learn more or sign-up on our volunteer page.

By Karen Antonacci

Today, Carlos Pacheco is the CEO of Boulder-based Premier Members Federal Credit Union and Board Chair of Impact on Education, but he still remembers the teachers who impacted him the most when he was a student in Northern California.

Impactful teachers

“There was Mr. Carney, back in 7th and 8th grade when you had one teacher for most of your classes. He was an ex-Marine and he was awesome. He joked around when it was appropriate but he always made sure you were learning and drove you to be better,” Carlos remembered.

What motivates him to volunteer

IOE’s mission to support students in Boulder Valley public schools with resources to address critical needs and opportunity gaps resonates with Carlos. He said it’s vital to provide every student with the right tools so they can make the most of their education. When COVID-19 restrictions forced many students to learn online for the first time, he was impressed by IOE’s push to make sure BVSD students had what they needed to learn. 

“We hope to be that connective tissue between what the public institutions are doing and what the private families are able to do and provide that connection, whether it’s technology, mentoring, supplies,” Carlos said. “It’s great seeing our ability to get out in the community and deliver school starter packs. You have to have the right tools to be able to get the most out of education like food or internet connection and we have the opportunity to close those gaps.”

Committed to equity

Carlos compared education to a race and IOE’s work to making sure every student is in place on their starting blocks, and has their running shoes on.

“Everyone should be able to reach their educational attainment to the fullest extent, whatever that might mean,” he said “After high school I started junior college, but then I got a really good job and I didn’t go back and get my bachelor’s degree until later in life, but that foundation of K-12 was so important. We should eliminate those gaps and get students set up to explore their passions and pursue them in trade or business.”

Carlos also serves as a Board Director for the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau. Perhaps then it is no surprise that when Carlos thinks about what lies on the horizon for IOE, he thinks like a businessman looking to franchise a successful endeavor. 

Although other school districts have similar organizations to Impact on Education, he would like to see the successful effort to connect public school students with the resources they need for education replicated across the country.

Last year, we kicked off a partnership with Couragion, a locally owned software company working to inspire underrepresented students to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. This women-led company uses an online platform to provide inclusive, work-based learning experiences that introduce students to jobs of the future.

The Couragion pilot program

We proposed a pilot program to the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) to implement Couragion in order to meet the district’s career and technical objectives. Our goal was to see if this new software could more precisely align with these objectives than the Career Pathways program, an in-house mentorship program helping elementary students explore careers. Working with Arlie Huffman, Director of CTE Education for BVSD, and Katie Romero, Director of Student Support for BVSD, we were able to launch the program in the fall of 2020.

Who participated in the pilot

We targeted five BVSD middle schools for the Couragion pilot program to reach a cross-section of schools representing various geographies, academic environments, and socioeconomic demographics. Their school counselors received training in September 2020, and then their students received access to the platform for eight weeks. 

4,580 career “quests” were completed by students throughout the program, with each student completing an average of 4.1 quests. 

• Participation rates ranged from 29-39% with 6th graders using the software the most
• Female students participated at a higher rate (49%) than male students (46%)
• 33% of students participants were students of color (a population that comprises 19.8% of the overall BVSD student population)

Initial findings

Students were surveyed each time they used Couragion, and the program showed an increased knowledge of STEM careers and school resources. The pilot results include:

• 14% increase in course registration knowledge related to the student’s interested career path
• 2-7% increase in students’ intent to pursue a STEM career
• 42% of students intended to sign up for a STEM-related course or activity
• 78% of students planned to work harder in their STEM courses

Lessons learned

The student participants demonstrated self-awareness, critical thinking and a broadened knowledge of career possibilities:

• “I love designing things, and I never thought there was a job like this.”
  female, student of color, grade 7, graphic designer
  
  
• “I just don’t really want to be in the engineer part. I want to lean more towards the doctor and medical side.”
  female, white, grade 8, cancer researcher
  
  
• “I think it would be fun to make new flavors, but having to do the paper work and determining if the product was good would be hard.”
  male, white, grade 7, food scientist
  
  
• “I love jobs that have to do with facts, statistics and math. I don’t mind taking lots of hard classes, as long as it pays off in the future. I love flexible hours and it sounds great to have lunch/meet up with my clients!”
  female, white, grade 7, financial advisor
  
  
• “I think this quest was not for me. I do not like to be on the screen especially because this quest is being on the computer for 10 hours plus. I can barely do it for the whole school day.”
  female, student of color, grade 7, cyber security manager
  
  
• “My head is already bursting with ideas!”
  male, student of color, grade 6, game developer

Some students also focused on a specific career goal:

• “A few of my career goals are to travel the world and see new cultures, people, and food. Another one is to have a flexible time schedule. My main career goal is to have a job within the skincare/medical industry including doing research.”
  female, student of color, grade 8
  
  
• “I would like to be an architect when I grow up. And if I am that when I grow up, I will have to get better at my math.”
  male, student of color, grade 7

What’s Next

The goals of this pilot program extend beyond career exposure to impact on course selection and the perception of how STEM classes can lead to careers. With our partners at BVSD, we are now evaluating next steps to determine if we should continue to offer Couragion to BVSD middle schoolers in the 21-22 school year and how we might deploy it most successfully in the future.

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