By: Brian A. Liesinger,
La Crosse Promise Executive Director
La Crosse Promise Future Centers have now entered the seventh year of service to the students of the School District of La Crosse.
We have seen hundreds of high schoolers come through our doors seeking Academic and Career Planning advising. Future Center advisors Hayley Moe and Matt Gordy average more than 2000 points of contact with students and family members during the course of each year. We are proud to make these connections largely through individual attention with students. At the heart of our service philosophy is the ability to meet students where they are at to assess and address obstacles they face. And we do this work alongside tremendous administrators, educators, and student service counselors in the District who we partner with to provide the best opportunities for students.
"At the heart of our service philosophy is the ability to meet students where they are at to assess and address obstacles they face."
A list of just a few of the Future Center services include: resume-building and interviewing skills; essay writing; the entire college application process; job shadows; career speakers; Future Center Fairs; soft skill development; critical thinking as it applies to colleges and careers; securing scholarships and grants, as well as understanding financial aid packages.
As a point of pride, I note three students in the district who our Future Centers worked with last year who earned
Bucky's
Tuition Promise
for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Bucky's Promise covers the entirety of their tuition for four years (provided they maintain their academic standing).
These low-income students were both assisted in the application process by Matt and Hayley.
One of these students did not know the program existed until Matt encouraged her and coached her through the application process. Financial challenges continue to be a major concern for families in our community.
Future Centers were not explicitly created for low-income students but that is a demographic we have increasingly served. There are census tracks in the City of La Crosse that have as high as 65% poverty rate, compared to a regional average of 14%.
We believe we have the greatest impact on poverty alleviation and prevention by putting students from low-income situations in the position to succeed in post-secondary education and careers. If students graduate from high school ready to seize opportunities and thrive economically, the next generation will be poised to reverse high poverty rates. Students from low-income families often feel destined to remain in poverty. We aim to change that narrative and provide resources to prevent it.
Given the multiple obstacles to lower-income students' academic achievement,
solutions must stretch beyond normal classroom and school activities. That is where Future Centers come in. The best-case scenario would be to simply elevate more families out of poverty, but as a country we have not found "magic bullet" solution for the issue of poverty. That is why we believe so strongly in individual student attention. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for students. We work one-on-one to address barriers. We leverage our social capital when students have none. We are able modify and adapt readily to the needs and goals of students.
La Crosse Promise has also been inspired by many other organizations doing incredible service in a variety of areas in the region. I consider La Crosse Pro
mise Future Centers along the same continuation of services as stalwart organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters of the 7 Rivers Region, the YMCA Teen Club, Boys and Girls Club of Greater La Crosse, The Good Fight Community Center and more--offering tremendous programs to students who need that extra lift outside of the classroom.
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Matt Gordy has been a Future Center advisor since 2017, bringing a passion for student success.
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La Crosse Promise is a nonprofit rooted in collaboration.
Only a handful of communities across the nation have advising centers like the Future Centers, a fact that makes me immensely proud. But we would not be who we
are and we would not be effective without a decade of making connections.
We have had the great opportunity to learn about, learn from, and partner with many people from all sectors. La Crosse Promise has also been blessed with an incredibly dedicated
Board of Directors and Community Advisors--
a number of whom have been with the Promise from the start.
To all of you, I express my deepest gratitude. By supporting us, you assert your belief in investing in our schools to produce the best and brightest. You believe in closing achievement gaps and striving to improve access and equity in education. I believe our ultimate goal as a community should be to create an environm
ent where all the community's children
reach high school graduation with the mindset and the tools to take them wherever they choose to go.
Finally: a special note of thanks to those who fund the Future Centers. Yours is an investment that goes straight to students with returns that multiply year over year. Your impact on Future Center programs is an impact on the kind of skills and opportunities students carry with them the rest of their lives.