Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome back to another episode of Just say Something podcast. Be sure to, like, share and subscribe. And remember, you can always find us wherever you find your favorite podcast.
So today we have a guest with us, and her name is Laura Allen Curlin. And Laura Allen is with Communities and Schools. So thank you for being here.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: And so for our listeners out there, what's Communities and Schools?
[00:00:38] Speaker B: Yeah. So Communities and Schools is a nonprofit, and our mission is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve or succeed in life.
[00:00:51] Speaker A: Okay, that's a mouthful.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: Yeah, it is.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: So Communities and Schools is national, state, and local.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Correct. So we are a national organization that has local affiliates. And so I am part of Communities and Schools of South Carolina. And so we actually serve 47 Title 1 schools across nine school districts in the state of South Carolina. And we are in two school districts in the Upstate, in Greenville county and Pickens County.
[00:01:22] Speaker A: Okay.
How do you decide what counties or what schools you go to?
[00:01:28] Speaker B: It's a factor of a lot of things. So in the case of Communities and Schools of South Carolina, we actually at one point in time were three separate entities. So we were CIS of the low country, CIS of the Midlands, and CIS of the upstate. And we merged in 2021, which has enabled significant growth on our part because it helped us to consolidate resources, be more sustainable and efficient and things like that. So some of it was existing footprints already where we were. But us going into a school, there's a combination of factors. Some of that is about school, district, buy in. I mean, because part of our. All of our programming happens on school property during the confines of the school day. So essentially we fund additional staff to work in the Title 1 schools that we serve. And so those staff have to have some kind of office or classroom space, and they provide all kinds of supports to students.
[00:02:21] Speaker A: Students.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: And so if we're going to go into a school, we need the principal to be on board. We need the school district to be on board.
So some of how that happens is based on the relationships we have with both school district superintendents and the school principals. And then, of course, funding is the other piece. And so as a general rule, in our model, schools pay for schools, or school districts pay for a third of our programming, and we fundraise the other two thirds.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: Okay, okay, so what are you in elementary, middle and high school?
[00:02:50] Speaker B: Yes.
So we serve K12 students, and as much as possible, we like to try and follow feeder patterns so that we can journey with students, even though they might be working with different one of our staffs. So theoretically a student could come onto our case management as a kindergarten student and if they stay in our feeder pattern, could be in our programming all the way until they graduate from high school if that's needed.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: That's awesome. That's awesome. So title one, those schools already need so much extra support.
[00:03:23] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: So what does it look like in a is there a typical day for communities in schools counselor or what does that look like?
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Yeah, so again it can vary a little bit based on schools and the age, you know, that we're in, but from a really broad standpoint because we are part of a national program, we have, you know, an evidence based national model. And so every year at the start of the school year, our school based staff that we call site coordinators, sit down with the school principal, other admin counselors, et cetera, and they do a needs assessment and from that they set goals from the year. And so every school has their own unique support plan and common goals include attendance initiatives, parent engagement, college and career readiness. There often is a mental health component which in elementary schools might look more like kindness initiatives and anti bullying in high schools that includes a lot more mental health, suicide prevention, stuff like that.
So those are some of the most common goals. Basic need supports is often something in that too. And so then our site coordinator makes a plan based on that needs assessment. And so they then provide kind of a couple different layers of support. They'll do school wide initiatives that all the student population can benefit from.
Our staff then lead small groups for students. That's a lot of resiliency training and confidence building and helping students build peer to peer relationships. And there's lots of different reasons you could end up in a group. But often students have something in common, like maybe they all have a parent who's incarcerated or often there is something unifying, but not always.
And then our staff does one on one case management with students. And so generally our staff can case manage between 40 and 50 students depending on school needs and stuff like that. And those are students that they're consistently checking in with. There's parent guardian, you know, permission in that. And so in the case of especially elementary school students, parents tend to be more involved by high school it's a lot more really working with students and helping them set goals, figure out what are the challenges and obstacles that they are facing, help provide them with resources and tools to address those things and help them to really stay in school. And as we like to say, become the heroes of their own story.
[00:05:33] Speaker A: Gotcha. Gotcha.
So how many schools are you in in Greenville County?
[00:05:38] Speaker B: In Greenville county, we're in seven this year.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: So.
And I know this doesn't have to be scientific.
What's the biggest need of the kids that y' all see coming through your program?
[00:05:53] Speaker B: You know, that's a tough question, and I really do think it varies based on the region we're in and even, you know, the moment in time.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Right.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: I mean, obviously back in November when there were snap cuts that became not just students be case managed, but in the schools we serve, you know, that need for food went up exponentially, as it did, we know, for lots of our nonprofit partners. But I think one of the things that is part of our goal is, you know, the communities in schools. Founder of the national organization Bill Milliken talks about how programs don't change people, relationships change people, but programs are the avenue to relationships. And such a big part of what we do is being another safe, trusted adult in the lives of our students. And it's not because they don't have parents, family members, other people who.
They have family who care about them deeply. But in a lot of cases, those parents are working multiple jobs to make sure their kids have a warm place to sleep at night or just there's so many other demands. And so a big part of it is just be having someone that allows for a student that's a safe space for them, someone they can trust, that's an encourager, a problem solver, all of those things. And while each student has unique needs, I honestly think that kind of need for that relational component is maybe one of the greatest needs and part of why our program has had so much success over so many years and across the country.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: Okay, all right. And so, as you mentioned, success. Are there a couple of success stories that you could share with our listeners?
[00:07:22] Speaker B: Yeah. So in the most recent school year, we had a 97% graduation rate across the state.
So that's higher than the state average. And certainly Title 1 schools typically have lower graduation averages. So, you know, that's a huge success in and of itself.
Something that was really cool for us last year, too, is one of our graduating students from Carolina High School here in Greenville.
She had been involved even in some leadership opportunities within communities and schools. And at one of our annual events, she helped emcee that event and spoke, and we had community partners and donors who were at that event. And one of the people there was so impressed with her poise and presentation that they approached her after, and their company ended up hiring her that summer after she graduated high school, which was very cool.
[00:08:14] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's great.
That's.
You know. And I know leading a program, seeing those success stories, it just.
It can give you chills, but it's a good chill to see that child succeed.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: So you talked earlier that about different fundraising and things like that.
Where do y' all have annual fundraisers that you hold?
[00:08:43] Speaker B: So our annual fundraising event is called Illuminate because we are illuminating the path for students futures. And it's not your typical fundraising event. It happens in November every year, and because we serve all over the state, we host the event on the same night across the state. And so the past couple years in Greenville, we've held it at Carolina High. And while it is a fundraising event, it's also event that's really meant to center around our students and families. And so as we were planning a fundraiser, we wanted to do an event that our students and families felt comfortable and wanted to attend and was accessible to them. And so we do it at our schools across the state. We have giant luminary displays, and so you can buy a luminary in honor of one of our students. And this year, we actually invited our students to decorate luminary bags themselves with things that they wanted to illuminate about themselves. So they. There were lots of beautiful artists, people put quotes and other things that they wanted to highlight.
Then at the event, there's kind of a brief program part, and we had students perform and speak, and we had cheerleaders and bands from the high schools we serve and stuff like that, and a photo booth, and it was really fun. And then we provide free meal to everybody who attends. And so for a lot of our students and families, it's a chance to sit down together, have a free catered meal. We gave away food and gas, gift cards and stuff like that to our families. But it's also a chance to invite our partners and donors to get to know our families and the students we serve. It's a chance for students and families to connect with those people who are invested in the community and want to see their success, too.
So it's a really, really fun night.
And it's very different. You know, there's no black tie or anything like that. When none of that's bad, it's just. It's a very different kind of fundraising.
[00:10:25] Speaker A: Sure, sure.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: But it really is a lot of fun and a great way for our students to shine.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: And I know we were There at the. This most recent one back in November. And that was my first time to be there. And so I really enjoyed it and seeing those kids get up on stage and speak and make their presentations.
But also then I realized, oh, that's Berea High School Band. Oh, my brother used to be in the Berea High School Band. So that brought back a lot of memories.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:56] Speaker A: As well. So that was a great event.
I didn't know, though, that y' all sold those luminaries. We do need to remind me next time I might buy a few.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:08] Speaker A: Okay.
So is, as you look at the future, what does the future look like for communities? In schools?
In our community. Not just in our community, but across the state.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: Yeah. So in South Carolina, there is a little over 600 Title 1 schools across the state, and we're currently in 47. And it's kind of in our strategic plan over the next set of years is to try to be in 10% of Title 1 schools across the state, which would be in the 60ish range. And so that's definitely a big part of what we're trying to do. And that expansion will probably happen across the state in different pockets. It is something for us that just, you know, you can't have growth without sustainability. And so we're always trying to do both. And we don't want to expand too quickly. So we usually don't add more than four or five schools. School sites across the state in any given year because that's about what's sustainable for us. But as we think long term and ways we would like to grow, we actually are new to Pickens county this year. This is our first school year. So we're serving three schools in Pickens County. So we're really excited about that and hopeful that maybe over time our programming can grow there. And certainly, you know, our senior leadership is in conversations with other school districts across the state about potential expansion into those districts and what that looks like. So.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: Okay, great, great. So if someone wants to get in touch with you all, is there a local office or how do they get in touch with communities and schools?
[00:12:40] Speaker B: Yeah. So you can certainly go to our website, which is ww.cisofsc.org as a good starting point, or follow us on social media. We do have a Greenville office. It's over on Bramlett Road near the Legacy campuses.
And we're not at Legacy, but we are at Alexander Elementary. So it's right over by Alexander, if you're familiar with that part of town. So we have an office there that you're always welcome to swing by or you could certainly reach out. There's contact forms on the website. So as soon as you go to our website, there'll be a pop up that's like connect with us and things like that where you can learn more.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: Great, great.
So what's one thing that maybe you hadn't had a chance to say that you would like for our listeners to know about communities and schools?
[00:13:26] Speaker B: I think one of the reasons that I love working for this organization, I've been with CIS for like 15 months now, I think, and that, you know, we don't, we serve a lot of students, but our numbers aren't as big as some other nonprofits or things like that. But we're really making long term transformational kind of impact on the lives of these students. And you know, we, we serve students who have so much potential and they're funny and smart, but they have obstacles and barriers that many other students in Greenville county don't have. And I think it's, you know, we talk about in the American dream that everybody has equal opportunities. But when you meet with a lot of our students and see the obstacles that they have to overcome in a lot of cases are greater and that doesn't mean that they can't overcome them. And we love to help them succeed in that, you know, but. And then when they do succeed and we see that long term impact, you know, thinking about other success stories.
Our site coordinator at Grove elementary has been there for 11 years at the same school and she has a student who was in the communities in schools program at Grove elementary and during that time received all kinds of supports, including, you know, families that adopted her and her siblings at Christmas. And now that student is in high school, has a part time job and she adopts a Grove Elementary School student every year, like it makes me tear up just thinking about it. That like, that's the, you know, and like the real ability and like working with incredible students and families and who and helping them to give them that maybe just little extra push or nudge that could enable them to succeed in incredible ways is just, it's really great to be a part of.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: And people don't think about it.
Kids can't do it alone, right?
[00:15:16] Speaker B: We adults can't do it alone. Are you kidding me?
[00:15:18] Speaker A: Right? Yeah, trust me, I know.
But I think a lot of our community is, you know, they equate the additional help with a certain population within our community.
That's not always the case.
And so I know there's a lot of programs out there. Communities and Schools is one of.
We've partnered for a long, long, long time.
But just within the last couple of years, our partnership with communities and schools has really grown, and I look forward to us continue to do that. You all provided great services for. For our families, for our students, and for our schools. So I want to thank you and your team for that.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: Thank you so much. And we're really grateful for the work that you guys do. Y' all are great partners. And I think that's one of the things that I've really loved in this role and being in Greenville, too, is the way that so many of the nonprofits, who especially are in education spaces, are really working with families. The opportunities we have to work together and how that collectively makes all of us stronger and better, empowers our community. It's just really cool to be part of.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: That's great. And that's a great way to end. I love that. Thank you so much. Thank you so. So, Laura Allen from Communities and Schools, again, want to thank you for being here. And that'll do it for this episode of Just say Something podcast. Remember to, like, share and subscribe, and we will see you next week. Thanks again.
