Thousands of Lifesavers
It was an off-hand comment teacher Brad Turski made that summed-up the impact of STEP (Springfield Transitional Education Program). He told me, “…there are hundreds of lifesavers that this school district places in the lives of our students. Those lifesavers are teachers, school counselors, special programs, even incentives– but for whatever the reason, too often, it seems the students who need them the most swim right past.” The reasons are assorted, but most often can be attributed to the fact there are just too many other objects floating around that weigh them down.
I chose that comment to feature the STEP program because something very special, even significant, happened this year. As I sat at graduation, watching the todays and tomorrows of more than 300 young men and women become interwoven, I couldn’t stop thinking of the 30 specific students who grabbed the lifelines we provided. Their choices to do so placed them on the stage at the Stranahan. You see, at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, not one of these 30 graduates was ever expected to reach the stage. While legislators might view our efforts as “a program that achieved a 97 percent success rate,” I prefer a different label. In my eyes, each of those 30 students were about to become high school graduates. Each has a story and all overcame incredible odds–homeless-ness, some are parents, all so far behind in credits that a herculean effort was needed to graduate. Yet, they did it.
Few are aware of the STEP program, and even fewer probably know what Mr. Turski and director of digital and career education Ryan Grooms do for our students. I used the word herculean before and that doesn’t fully describe how they support, nurture, push, challenge and, most importantly, truly care about each student. They believe in these kids and that belief, well, sometime during their initial meeting and graduation, it lit a fire of hope in their students. It helped kids believe that they “could.” They were shown a clear path to success through graduation, learned skills that made sense in their less than typical high school student lives, and found in Mr. Turski a determined mentor who believed in them–an authentic, deliberate adult who cut-through excuses and changed their “why” to “why not.”
How STEP works is simple on paper. We provide the programming and instructional support that helps students recover the academic credits needed to graduate. The students must be employed for at least 15 hours each week (most work well beyond that) and their work experiences count towards their missing electives credits. They learned online, worked, handled family obligations– and like their fellow Class of 2022 peers, eventually completed all the graduation requirements that the State of Ohio demands of a high school student. If that sounds simple–I promise that it is anything but, however, I want to repeat again that 30 of 31 STEP program participants graduated on May 21. These students who had once walked away from the traditional school setting found a place, and people, that showed them a pathway to a better life. Mr. Grooms told me, “Brad and his students, while unconventional, have done something pretty amazing this year. Graduation is not the end of the story for these students, and they still face multiple challenges, however, for many of them getting this one win can make a huge difference.”
Don’t get me wrong, I wish every student, very early in their lives, would accept the life preservers offered by our district. I wish their lives were easier. None of my wishes matter–what does is something that Springfield Local Schools does so very well (I hesitate to say better than anyone else, because educating students isn’t a competition)–we meet kids where they are, and we get them to where they need (and when we do it right) want to be. We never stop challenging every student to be better, try harder and to keep reaching for their dreams. If you doubt that this is true, give me a call. I suspect there are at least 30 (if not 300-plus) recent high school graduates that will back me up.
