On June 13, for the first time, I will attend a high school graduation for my students. Never would I have believed my IMPACCT journey would change me so much for the better.
I’ve now spent a full year (and a few months) at IMPACCT, long enough to learn to manage an office environment, long enough to understand what it takes to lead our programming, and long enough to see how much of a difference we make every day. Along with teaching, I’ve recruited learners, joined in community-building with our Chamber of Commerce, and managed a program that brings at-risk students back to their goals and education.
Today, I reached out to schools about former students, some of whom finished the program before I even arrived. In addition to the 7 new high school graduates who finished our Spring 2024 cohort, I found that there were 12 others who reached their goal of graduation this June (not to mention those that reached it in January or through alternative means). Every one of those students made a choice to value their future.
I have had the privilege to be part of their journeys, coaching them, tutoring and counseling, and even convincing one student to graduate just to prove wrong those who assumed he would fail. There has been frustration, and doubt, and fear (and not just on the students’ part). There has also been inspiration, pride, and fiercely contagious joy. To be a part of their journeys has been an honor over this past year and change.
I have learned that without building and maintaining a community, we cannot succeed. I firmly believe that we can support one another to make the positive change that we need. I am so incredibly grateful to everyone who has volunteered their time and expertise to be a part of these efforts, and I can’t wait to see what we do in the future. You have been a force for good. Sometimes, you have been the one thing that pulled a student onto their path. You have changed more lives than you know.
So where do we go from here? Well, for a start, we build new relationships and bring in an incredible summer cohort. We do the work to improve our programming and ignite curriculum that meets each and every learner where they are at. We keep building a community. It is a community of professionals collaborating to create resources and curriculum that engages our students and opens their minds to the possibilities that they have. It is a community of businesses coming together to support students learning about how to fit into this world of work. Most of all, it is a community of humans who all believe that everyone has the right to live their lives in what they believe is the best way possible.
And for those graduates? It’s going to be an incredible year of first steps, of fresh starts, and of fearful leaps into the future. But they have the skills. And they have the confidence. And they all have the most incredible hearts that won’t fail them in reaching their goals.
