Be Great Graduate could come to Shawano

SHAWANO — A Boys and Girls Club program that has seen success with helping at-risk students graduate in Green Bay could be coming over to the Shawano School District.

Wendy Crawford, co-chairwoman for the board for the Shawano Boys and Girls Club, presented the Be Great Graduate program to the district’s executive committee on Wednesday. She recommended a specialist be hired by the district to work with students who have become disillusioned and could possibly drop out if intervention does not take place soon.

“The Green Bay Boys and Girls Club was kind of the test market for this concept,” Crawford said. “This started in 2010 with the Green Bay School District and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Green Bay. Because of the success of this program, state funding was added to include Oshkosh, Appleton, Milwaukee with a total of 35 school districts now.”

The specialist would work with up to 20 at-risk students a year at the freshman level for the first two years of high school. The goal is to eventually make it so students’ interest in education will return, and they’ll be able to get back on track to make it through their junior and senior years, according to Crawford.

“The specialist would be a Boys and Girls Club employee, but the hiring process would be a joint process between the Boys and Girls Club and the school district,” Crawford said.

The specialist would help the students to find specific academic interests and provide coaching with homework, she said. There would also be input for the students on how to take notes, prepare for tests and more.

The expected salary for the position is $50,000. Eventually, the position would be jointly paid for three ways by the state, the district and the local Boys and Girls Club. However, the 2020-21 school year, when this program could start in Shawano, is in the middle of the state’s biennial budget, so until the Wisconsin Legislature works on a new budget next year, the club and the district would each need to come up with $25,000 to start the program in September.

The position would not be limited to the school year, and the specialist would work with the students part-time during the summer months, as well, according to Crawford.

“The nice thing is that this position would remain connected with the students during the summer, and in the summer, they offer college field trips,” Crawford said.

So far, Be Great Graduate has boasted a 92% graduation rate, according to Crawford. Shawano School District’s four-year graduation rate is about 89%, according to Superintendent Randi Anderson.

“There is a percentage of students that this program targets very well,” Anderson said.

Rod Watson, associate principal at Shawano Community Middle School, said he could easily think of a number of current eighth-grade students that Be Great Graduate would be perfect for.

“I could give you 40,” Watson said to the committee. “Our teachers have up to 110 students each, depending on what they teach, so one of the weaknesses of secondary education is that it can be pretty bleak for students who are really seeking connections.”

Nick Curran, district business manager, recalled a Green Bay newspaper story that told about how a specialist with the program not only helped one student with academics but also with obtaining a driver’s license and filling out college applications.

“It’s not only going to help them to graduate here, but it’s also going to help that next step of getting them going to college,” Curran said.

Because the Shawano Boys and Girls Club is directly affiliated with the Green Bay organization, there would be an advantage in being able to tap the group for help as the local program got off the ground, according to Crawford.

“When I was hearing this, the picture of an onion came to mind,” Crawford said. “We’re peeling off the layers of a student who, due to whatever the circumstances, is hardened and has checked out and who doesn’t care. Little by little, that one-on-one person who is trusted and really an advocate for that student can perhaps begin to connect.”

Anderson said the program is a sound one, but the trick is going to be how to raise the money — on both sides. She noted that the recently formed 100+ Women Who Care program in Shawano County might be a resource that either entity could approach for some funding.

“There’s got to be other entities out there, too,” Anderson said.

School board member Beth MacFarlane, who also sits on the Boys and Girls Club board, said the position’s benefits makes it important that funding be sought out, especially if the state ever decides to pull funding for Be Great Graduate, which currently sits at $2.8 million.

“You can never count on the state,” MacFarlane said. “Right now, the state’s saying they’re very interested in this, and I think that’s fabulous, but five or 10 years down the road, the state might be saying something different, and then we’re stuck. I think we’re better off trying to find the funding between us and the Boys and Girls Club. If we get stuff from the state, that’s just a bonus.”

The proposal will go before the full school board on Monday.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com