Congratulations to Jalen!
Carver Academy, Class of 2024
As part of Tier 1 supports, each CIS Site Coordinator is responsible for case managing 50 students. These are students who have incredible potential and need something extra from a caring adult to reach graduation. That doesn’t mean, though, that students outside of the 50 receiving case management aren’t getting those individualized supports. Jalen is a great example of one of those students! While Jalen was not on Caver Academy Site Coordinator Mary Thompson’s caseload, Ms. Thompson still went out of her way to ensure that his needs were met as he approached graduation.
“Jalen was doing well in school, participating in class, attending school each day, and succeeding academically,” Ms. Thompson shared. Outside of school, Jalen had to maintain a job alongside completing his school work, a difficult balancing act that often left him exhausted. With those external factors, Jalen needed that additional guidance to balance school and work. Over three years, Ms. Thompson and Jalen worked together on goal setting to help him stay focused on his academics, while managing his work schedule, as well as staying out of “drama” at school.
Jalen reflected that he was grateful to have a trusted adult to go to when he needed it, and he often visited Ms. Thompson’s office to take breaks and process things that had happened during the week. He shared that he was proud of the work he did while at Carver, whether it was keeping up with both his job and school, participating in community service projects, or being elected prom king! Jalen will be attending Virginia State next year to study biology. “I am so proud of Jalen! He is such a talented young man and it has been incredibly meaningful to me to walk alongside him as he has achieved his goals and worked hard to reach graduation,” Ms. Thompson said. We join Ms. Thompson in congratulating Jalen as a member of the class of 2024!
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Jalen poses for a photo with Ms. Thompson,
his CIS Site Coordinator at Carver Academy.