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[Music] Welcome to
Providing Support

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for Students Most At Risk.

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Hi, I'm Miriam Medina-Schwartz.

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I am the team leader
of the College Access

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and Readiness team here at Davis
High School in Houston, Texas.

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My name is Casey McKee,
and I am a project manager

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for a dropout prevention agency
here at Davis High School.

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McKee: We have a
series of services

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to help students minimize
barriers to graduation.

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We try to appropriately
match the students

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with the different support
programs that we have on campus.

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So for some students,

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a very academic mentoring
program would be a perfect fit

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for their needs.

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But in some situations, it's
more of a social service being,

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maybe, working on
some counseling issues

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or some family relationship
issues to get them the items

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that they need to succeed
in school or be able

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to debrief the conversations

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that complicate their
lives outside of school,

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thus affecting them in school.

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Schwartz: All ninth graders
entering Davis High School are

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eligible for these programs.

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We also focus on a certain
group of students that come in.

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We look at the data
from middle school.

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We look at the students
that have been

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at risk at middle school.

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Research has shown that
students that are at risk

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at middle school
and are struggling

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with academic core
subjects will continue

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that same pattern
in the high school.

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So we try to prevent and
intervene immediately

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when they come to our school.

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So what we do, we look
at the data and we see

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which students are not being
successful in ELA, or English,

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and math, and that's a certain
group that we might focus on.

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We also have the students
that have discipline issues

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that we need to help
immediately.

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And then we have the students
with attendance problems.

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So there's three
different elements.

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The way we engage
a student in one

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of these programs is we
either go directly to them.

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We say, "This is
what we have noticed.

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We would like you to
participate in this program.

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We can help you overcome
these issues.

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We can connect you
with the right people."

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McKee: An important piece of
my job is that we are able

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to provide free on-site
counseling, and we are able

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to have discussions
with students,

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confidential discussions,
to discuss the life events

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that are going on with them
that may be prohibiting them

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from being as successful
as possible in school.

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Schwartz: Through our programs,
we offer a $4,000 scholarship.

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Each child at Davis
High School is eligible

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for these $4,000 scholarships.

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We offer free prom dresses
through these programs.

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Another incentive that we have
is giving them caps and gowns

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so that when they graduate they
don't have to purchase them,

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and these incentives
help them get

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through some of the hard times.

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They know that at the
end of the tunnel,

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there will be some money waiting
for them to go to college;

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they know that they
will have a prom dress;

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they know they will
have a graduation cap,

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even though they
can't afford it,

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or a gown that we
can provide for them

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through these incentives.

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All they have to do is come
to school, stay in school,

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do well in school, and be part

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of the whole Davis
college-bound culture.

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The programs have shown success.

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The data does show that
students that have been going

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to our summer college
institutes,

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there is a direct correlation
that students will stay

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in school and will
actually graduate.

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[Music] To learn more
about Providing Support

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for Students Most At Risk,

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please explore the
additional resources

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on the Doing What Works website.