[EdTalks] Bridging the Graduation Gap: The Communities In Schools Guide to Student Success

The success of students inside the classroom often depends on the support they receive outside of it. In this episode, we sit down with several members of the Communities In Schools family to discuss how school community partnerships are tackling the challenges facing local youth. This conversation explores how Communities In Schools provides vital resources to ensure every student has a clear path toward high school graduation and a bright future.

Our guests share firsthand accounts of a three-tiered support system that addresses everything from basic needs like food and clothing to intensive one-on-one mentorship. We explore how programs focusing on college and career readiness help students successfully navigate the difficult transition from middle to high school, while local partnerships provide unique internships and financial literacy training. By prioritizing student support and wraparound services, the organization helps bridge the gaps that often lead to low graduation rates.

If you are an educator, community leader, or parent interested in how holistic support transforms lives, this episode is for you. You will walk away with a better understanding of how intentional mentorship and school-wide wellness initiatives empower students to reach their full potential. Tune in to hear how dedicated site coordinators are making a tangible difference in the lives of Greenville’s future leaders.

Episode Resources

• Communities In Schools of South Carolina

• GirlUp GVL

• Gene-Xcellence

• Walt's Waltz

Supporting Students Through Community Partnerships

Catherine Schumacher: The success of students inside our schools often relies heavily on school community partnerships. And here at Simple Civics EdTalks, we are pleased to shine a bright spotlight on community partners that are doing extraordinary things both inside and outside the school buildings to provide wraparound supports to help students thrive in the classroom and in life.

One of these organizations is Communities In Schools, a national organization that has a strong affiliate in South Carolina, working statewide with 47 different schools. Here in Greenville, Communities In Schools, or CIS, works in seven schools.

I'm Catherine Schumacher with Public Education Partners, and on today's episode of Simple Civics EdTalks, we will hear from three members of the Communities In Schools family here in Greenville. To learn more about the program and its impact, Myesha Belcher, Site Coordinator at Carolina High School, interviews two Carolina juniors, Daraji Adams and Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore, to talk about the program.

Myesha Belcher: Hello, everybody. My name is Myesha Belcher, and I am with Communities In Schools. I'm very excited to be here with EdTalks to discuss some important things that CIS does and have two of my beautiful students that I work with at Carolina also. I'm going to let you guys introduce yourselves. I'm with Daraji and Jacolby. Go ahead.

Daraji Adams: Hey, I'm Daraji. I'm a junior at Carolina High School.

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: Hey, y'all. I'm Jacolby. I am also a junior at Carolina High School.

The Mission and Outreach of Communities In Schools

Myesha Belcher: So we have Daraji and Jacolby here who are both part of Communities In Schools at Carolina High School. Just a little bit about Communities In Schools: we strive to bridge relationships and bridge the gaps with the school, community, and parents, making sure that students have what they need to stay on track to graduate.

Graduation rates often can be low, and we want to make sure our students have everything they need. They are well-rounded and have that holistic view met so that way they can make it to their big dreams. Communities In Schools operates in seven Greenville County schools: Carolina High School, Berea High School, Berea Middle School, Berea Elementary School, Welcome Elementary School, Grove Elementary School, and Alexander Elementary School.

We are within schools every single day, all day, working with our students. We are checking in with them, making sure they're here on time, making sure they have their attendance correct, and making sure they're staying out of trouble, not in ISS, OSS, or getting any referrals. I see Jacolby over there looking at me like, "Yeah, she does all of that."

Navigating Academic Challenges in High School

And then we make sure their coursework is on point because we want to ensure they are moving the needle forward. It gets harder as you get up into those steps.

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: Yeah, I agree.

Myesha Belcher: Elementary school is fun and dandy. Then middle school is still fun. But then high school is a boom. Talk to us about it.

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: It's been uphill and downhill. My grades have skyrocketed now. They weren't the best at the start of my 11th grade year, but now they're getting up.

Myesha Belcher: Nice. What about you, Daraji?

Daraji Adams: When you switch from middle school, it's a big jump. Trust me, because my ninth grade year, I was in random classes and I didn't really know what I was doing. I picked random classes thinking it was just going to be whatever, and I figured out that was not it.

In middle school, you get a chance to turn in work whenever. Now you can't do that. Missing assignments, you get 10 points off every day it is missing.

Individual Student Support and Tiered Interventions

Myesha Belcher: So it's really preparing you for college if you want to go, which is what we're pushing you towards—that college and career readiness. That's a big part of what Communities In Schools site coordinators are doing in the high school.

We are meeting with principals, assistant principals, teachers, and all stakeholders in order to make sure we can help connect our students to that college and career readiness piece. Within CIS, we have tiers: Tier 1 supports, Tier 2 supports, and Tier 3 supports.

I'm going to go a little backwards because we just talked about Tier 3 support where the site coordinator—myself—meets with you guys individually. We have that individual plan and those individual goals to say, "Daraji, what is it that you want to do? Where do you want to go, and how do we get you there?" Or, "Jacolby, what are you doing already that is pushing you towards that dream or goal?" We put those systems in place to make sure you're getting there.

Let's talk about what you guys feel like Tier 3 supports have done to help you this school year or last school year. Jacolby, I know you've been in CIS two years. And Daraji, this is your first year, but I've known you since being at Carolina.

Daraji Adams: It really helped me realize that I have more potential in myself because I have somebody who believes in me and tells me that I can do it. Instead of me just half-doing my work to get a grade, you tell me that I can work over what I'm doing, learn how to do it, and prepare for college, which is what I really do want to do. I think I've become a better student because of it.

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: Just like Daraji said, I've definitely become a better student. You definitely stay on top of us for our work. Our meetings are every other Friday, and we just meet and talk about what's going on in the week, what we can improve on, and what our mental health is at the moment. It helps me that way. I'm not just at school; I know you believe in us there and when we're not there.

Myesha Belcher: That means a lot to hear. When I get caught up in doing the motions all the time, I don't sit down and think about making an impact. But to hear it from you guys, I appreciate that. Thank you for letting me be a part of your lives, because that's a big deal.

Group Mentorship and Partnership: Tier 2 Support

Let's go to Tier 2. Tier 2 supports are mainly group support. That would be something where two or more students come together to get some type of education support that's outside of the school coming in. That would be like our GirlUp GVL group.

Daraji, I know that you're part of GirlUp GVL outside of school. Communities In Schools is in that piece of bridging those outside resources with the school. We have a partnership with GirlUp GVL. Kim Mogan, who's the executive director, is amazing.

Kim has a team who comes out and helps our students learn more about self-awareness, social and emotional learning, and being confident in themselves. It is girl-focused. She connects them to internships over the summertime to get experience with job shadowing. She makes sure their mental health is well. She comes to our schools every other Friday consistently, and the girls love her.

Daraji Adams: They make sure that you're doing something that you really love. During my summer internship, they put me in Vivacity Tech, which is an office base, because I want to be a lawyer when I get older.

They also put me in the warehouse to see if I want to be on my feet or just in the office space. I do love the office space, and I told her that. So this year she's going to put me in a real estate program for the internship. She shows that she's interested in what I'm interested in.

And then this year, we have the Secret Santa. Since a lot of girls don't have money or jobs, she gives us the card, gives us a budget, and lets us do it. I think that's really fair to everyone. I just really love Miss Kim.

Financial Literacy and Practical Education

Myesha Belcher: That's so cool. Another Tier 2 that you have experienced, Jacolby, is Gene-Xcellence. Gene-Xcellence is one of those organizations that's going to help our students get real-life experience before they get out of high school.

We're talking about college and career readiness and the financial piece of it—financial literacy, knowing how to balance a checkbook, and how to budget. We did a budgeting course where we had money. Do you remember that?

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: It was monthly and yearly. We went into the cafeteria and it was like, "What do you want to do when you get older?" I put psychology at the time because that's what I thought I wanted to do.

Myesha Belcher: She gave out worksheets and what looked like real money. For you to actually hold the money in your hand and write out your yearly salary, how much a month you're bringing home, what bills you have to pay, what your gas and food looked like—you had to give that money physically to that bill. Then you see what you have left over.

Even just going back to looking at the salary, you might realize your lifestyle is expensive, so you might have to choose something different. It showed you in that moment what was more important to you. Like you said, you thought about psychology and then that changed. We just had a conversation about that today. That's okay. Especially as juniors, having an idea of what you like is fine. You'll know how to narrow it down as you get closer to what it is you want.

School-Wide Initiatives and Basic Needs: Tier 1

We talked about Tier 2 supports. Now we're going to Tier 1 supports. Tier 1 supports are those school-wide supports that we put in with the help of other community resources.

The one we did this last school year at Carolina was a mental health awareness program and cookbook workshop with Waltz Waltz. Miss Susan came in and we had a lot of students in our multipurpose room. We probably had about 60 students at one time, and we had cookbooks and aprons for each student to take home.

The community cookbook was to share recipes that we lean towards during the holiday time that make us feel good. Jacolby, tell us about your experience with it.

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: My experience was good. It was very interactive. We got to color, and I took home two aprons. I actually baked sugar cookies. I liked it because she told us how she got to where she is today and shared her personal experience.

Daraji Adams: I really liked it because she made people feel good by sharing recipes that they like and putting a smile on their faces. Also sharing her personal experience made it so we're not just getting information from someone that doesn't really know what is going on. It was really fun.

Myesha Belcher: Susan is amazing. I enjoy the energy that she brings to the room whenever she's explaining things while making it fun and interactive.

Other Tier 1s that Communities In Schools has done include helping out with basic needs for the whole school, whether that be clothing or food. If we have things come in, we're able to outsource that to all of our schools.

Tier 1s are just as helpful as Tier 2s and Tier 3s. They're helping to support the whole student, the whole family, and the whole school staff. We even do staff appreciations because without them, we wouldn't be here either.

Looking Forward to Senior Year and Beyond

As we're wrapping up our conversation, I want to know what you are looking forward to for senior year?

Daraji Adams: Me coming in at 12 o'clock with some food. I'll have early release, but I also have the opportunity to graduate early this year. I don't think I'm going to take it because I haven't done any applications. So I'm excited for sleeping in and coming in late to finish up the year.

Myesha Belcher: I love that. Jacolby, what are you looking forward to?

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: I'm looking forward to getting it out of the way and going to college. I plan on going to Lander University. I need to apply, but when I get in—we have to manifest it—I want to study either theater or criminology.

Myesha Belcher: Bearcats! Well, that'll be our next step—that one-on-one piece of getting you there. Daraji, I know you have something else other than sleeping in that you're looking forward to. Give me something else, girl.

Daraji Adams: I am so excited for sports because I'll be a big senior.

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: I plan to continue band and chorus. I have to get my senior banner.

Myesha Belcher: The senior banner! Those are really popular amongst the athletes. Well, I really appreciate talking with y'all today. You made my day. This was really special for us to be able to share this time together and have a conversation about the great things you are doing and are going to do. I am just along for the ride to watch you do it. Thank you.

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: I'm going to cry.

Myesha Belcher: Goodness. Thank you so much to EdTalks for having us today. Again, my name is Myesha Belcher.

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: My name is Jacolby Wellmaker.

Daraji Adams: My name is Daraji Adams.

Myesha Belcher: And y'all have a great day.

Daraji Adams: Bye.

Jacolby Wellmaker Ashmore: Bye.

Catherine Schumacher: Simple Civics EdTalks is a joint project of Greater Good Greenville, Greenville First Steps, and Public Education Partners Greenville County.