Crossroads Church continues to invest in improving educational outcomes for local students, most recently to support an effort to increase attendance and ultimately graduation rates at Thornton High School. Crossroads Church provided $500 through the Adams County Youth Initiative’s (ACYI) LIFT (Local Impact Funding Technical Assistance) Fund, which provides partners with just that – a ‘lift’ to help build their capacity to implement or enhance strategies that support student success.
The funds have afforded the Thornton High School Truancy Council program an opportunity to provide support groups for students who have been identified and then referred by Truancy Council Staff. The support groups are provided by Community Reach Center’s North Metro Youth Organization through a program called ‘I’m Going Places’. These groups support the ‘Guys and Girls Circles’ which are offered during lunch. These circles provide support for Thornton High School students struggling with attendance. The circles focus on:
Girls’ Circle – Increasing positive connections with peers, identifying strengths, increasing confidence, and improving communication skills. Topics include body image, friendship, future planning, and many more.
Boys’ Circle – Increasing positive connections with peers, identifying strengths, and exploring their individual value. Topics include role models, positive relationships, emotions, and healthy decision making.
This strategized effort to improve attendance is monitored through key data points that are tracked and regularly assessed to help inform program enhancements or changes that affect positive outcomes. Attendance is a proof point in helping students reach the high school graduation milestone necessary for long-term success.
“Crossroads Church has been a long-time contributing partner to ACYI”, said Becky Hoffman, ACYI Executive Director. “Including providing extra funding during ACYI’s critical transition from a federal grant to a non-profit in 2012. They have recruited over 10 mentors for one of the partnership’s Mentoring Agencies, Save Our Youth. They support with everything and anything that is needed. They consistently ask the question, ‘what can we do to help?’ and then they make it happen”.
Pictured: Emma Pinter, ACYI Board Chair and Becky Hoffman, ACYI Executive Director
with Pastor Kim Skattum and Pastor Matt Manning of Crossroads Church. Photo Credit – Adams County Government.