About 7,000 students in the U.S. become high school dropouts every school day. That’s 1.2 million students who will not graduate from high school – each year.
It’s easy for important information to get lost in today’s never-ending flow. But Edge Foundation founder, Neil Peterson, worries about the bright young people who are being lost because not enough of them are getting the help they need.
That’s why we continue to make innovations to find ways to empower more students with ADHD. The Puget Sound School-Based Coaching Program is one step to reaching previously underserved students within a school-based setting.
This one-of-a-kind intervention brings coaching into schools with a high proportion of at-risk students. Giaudrone Middle School in Tacoma (Tacoma Public Schools) and the Big Picture School in Burien (Highline Public Schools) are the two schools participating in the pilot program which is offered at no cost to these at risk students.
Students who are at-risk of dropping out can fall into a downward spiral; coaching can change that. Just read the words of one of the students who received coaching this year:
“My attendance was bad, so we made up this thing where I would text my coach when I came to school. And, so, I’ve been texting her, letting her know. It gave me this push to start improving. While I was improving on one priority; it makes all the other priorities better too. You see, all of these goals kinda come down to my self-image… they reflect how I feel about myself. My coach didn’t give me answers. She made me ask questions. She made me get my own answers.” – Alicia B.
We are currently raising money to extend this program for another year and we need your help. All funds raised this summer will be matched, dollar for dollar, by the Johnson Scholarship Fund (JFS).
Edge is also measuring progress against its goals for participating students to refine the program and make it duplicable in other schools. Our goal is to see:
- significant improvements in learning and study skills, will to learn, and self-regulation and
- significant improvement in the areas of self regulation, including discipline, classroom behavior, attendance, homework completion, credits earned, progress toward high school graduation, and preparation being accepted to college.
In the end we hope to have developed a promising and replicable school-based model for ensuring the success of middle and high school students with ADHD or severe executive functioning challenges.
We value every contribution. When each of us gives a small amount, we can do great work together.