Communities In Schools of South Central Texas

By: Rashad Tolbert

“Empowering students to stay in school and achieve in life.”

Communities In Schools was founded by Bill Milliken in 1970 in New York. With this organization, Milliken sought to began to bring community resources and support inside public schools. Today it is active in 26 states, Texas ranked number one in the nation, and the District of Columbia with 164 local affiliates serving students most vulnerable to dropping out. In schools throughout Texas, they hope to improve student achievement, decrease the dropout rate, and most of all increase the graduation rate. Over the years, the CIS in Texas has made its way to being the most recognizable program in the national CIS network.  In Texas, the CIS is written into law and receives state funding allocated by the legislature, under the Texas Education Agency with a state director who manages the program. The South Central Texas CIS is an integral part of a statewide commitment to alleviate the nationwide epidemic of dropouts. The schools that play a part of the CIS in South Central Texas are Comal ISD, Marion ISD, New Braunfels ISD, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, Seguin ISD, Luling ISD, and other cities in Guadalupe and Comal counties with other schools starting to interact with the CIS program. These schools together support guidance, health and human services, and most importantly parent/family and community engagement.

The Communities In Schools of South Central Texas focus on surrounding students with a community of support, the empowerment to stay in school, and the ability to achieve success in life. Through this organization, the Communities In Schools in South Central Texas does their best to serve every child’s needs and what they deserve. They give them a personal, one on one relationship with a caring adult, a safe place to learn and grow, and of most a health start in life. This has led to future marketable skills to use upon graduation and a chance to give back to peers and community. As of last year, 94 percent of students from kindergarten to the last year of high school were promoted to the next grade.

Like all things in life though, this organization does run into difficulties, mostly financially. Since this organization is a non profit organization, their money comes from monetary donations from private, corporate, and community sponsors. Fundraisers throughout the year are also hosted, which the kids and people of the community thrive in, thus bringing everyone together for the better. The lack of volunteers too plays a part in the Communities In School which the program is hoping to increase last year’s 1300 volunteers to help mentor more than 30,000 students a year. Mentors from last year however have reported that them participating in the mentoring program have empowered them more than it has the students. The program does match their students with mentors with who they think could help each other the most through both individual goals. The mentoring program isn’t as demanding as others may say or think, they would like to have as much interactions as they could, but at most want at least 30 minutes at primary schools and at least 45 minutes for secondary schools. Mentors are also able to stay with their students from when they start all the way to college if they’d like.

The CIS mentors provide just about any service or need the student desires. Academic enhancement and support is provided through tutoring and any extended time the student needs to help them become the best they can be. The preparation and transition lead to future college and career awareness. For those with family problems, home visits and consultation improve family and parent engagement along with supportive guiding and counseling both as an individual and as a group if needed/wanted.

The CIS also participates in the Pebble Project to increase adult awareness and children protection. The Pebble Project has for years made a difference by preventing child abuse and neglect by empowering children to bestow their own safety by teaching them to recognize and resist abusive or dangerous situations by telling a trusted adult that they have been abused. “Pebble” refers to the ripple of each effort to prevent child abuse in the community. Last year, 5,320 children and 486 adults received child abuse prevention abuse information with one hundred percent of the 260 children who disclose abuse or strife receiving service referrals. For more than thirty years, Prevention Education Specialists and the Pebble Project have provided training and awareness for more than 5,000 children a year and provided counseling in response to abuse or harm this past school year.

The CIS of SCT have made some huge impacts since starting up, through the kids and mentors. Statistics have shown that students are 25 percent less likely to drop out of school through the CIS program. The mentoring program provides maybe the only opportunity for a child to have one on one attention and time from an adult who cares in their time of need. Through this, the students have also been able to improve their self image and feeling of self worth throughout the program. The Communities In School give children personal connections and support the efforts to be the best they can be on their road to staying in school and being successful in the future. One in every three young kids and young adults are currently growing up without a mentor to guide them through life’s difficulties, leading them to disconnection from school and work. That’s where the Communities In School of South Central Texas comes in and tries to give these children the services and guidance they need to be the best they can be in the best environment they can give them.

The mentoring has program has been reported to have increase the attendance rate all throughout school, renovate positive relationships with friends and parents, and improve the students self esteem. With a mentor to follow and look up to, the chances of young children and young adults taking drugs and/or alcohol decrease dramatically. Overall, the Communities In Schools of South Central Texas’ goal is to put their young children and adult to be in the best position they can while being there beside them while they mature and find themselves. With the strong bond that mentors build with their students, this relationship is able to continue even after the kid graduates, in some cases more than often, mentors and mentees have even been known to come back to the CIS mentoring program to continue to build successful people in this world. After all, the children are the future.

Communities In School of South Central Texas:

Address: 161 S Castell Ave, New Braunfels, TX 78130

Hours: 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday

Phone Number: (830)-620-4247

Website: http://www.cis-sct.org

Facebook: @communitiesinschoolofsouthcentraltexas

Contact Name:

Sonya Chapa

(Mentoring Coordinator)

(830)-620-4247 ext. 12

schapa@cissouthcentraltexas.org

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Photos By: Asiah Johnson