It’s about taking the existing assets in our schools and school systems and focusing them on some of these longer-term outcomes that honestly often matter more to communities, parents, and young people than any- thing else,” said Connelly. ONEGOAL IMPACTS STUDENTS OneGoal’s unique approach mat- tered a lot to Loreal Latimer when she was part of OneGoal’s first cohort. Although she earned good grades and was always motivated and pas- sionate about her education, as one of 10 children in a family living on the South Side of Chicago, she faced the common barriers that come with a lack of resources. She knew the direc- tion she wanted to go in, but OneGoal was instrumental in helping her nav- igate the college admission process, as well as introduce her to schools she’d never considered before. “I remember they took us on an overnight college tour to the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign that year, and I didn’t even know it existed,” Latimer said.
wanted for their students. The orga- nization, which was originally called Urban Students Empowered (US Empowered), began as an after- school program to support students in 11th and 12th grade at Dunbar High School transition to college. After three years, the growing orga- nization made a transition of its own to ensure it could help students with the tactical part of college admission, like filling out school and financial aid applications, while also address- ing the factors that preclude stu- dents from reaching their college aspirations. In order to do this, OneGoal adopted what Connelly calls an intrusive counseling model, where cohorts of students participate in a credit-bearing elective course during the junior and senior years of high school and continue to receive support from program directors through their first year of college. While the word “intrusive” may have a derogatory connotation, for OneGoal, this intrusive approach is far from negative. The program becomes
a regular part of students’ days, just like any other class. As such, they’re not able to easily overlook their col- lege preparatory activities. “I would say physical education is pretty intrusive in the high school schedule, and so the intrusive com- ponent of it is it’s almost impossible to not engage. That’s how we think about what intrusive advising is, that you should have to opt-out as opposed to opting in to this kind of life coaching,” said Connelly. To help make intrusive counseling successful, the organization adopted a model where it provides support to educators and those who regularly interact with the students. Connelly feels that this helps get the best results in the 300 schools OneGoal partners with because the program directors and school administrators understand the needs of their stu- dents best. “I think what is so brilliant about the model is that it’s not about trying to make time where there is none, or nurture relationships where they don’t naturally or organically exist.
PRESIDENTIAL SPOTLIGHT
By the time Caleb was a sophomore, he wasn’t doing all that well in school. He wasn’t motivated to try harder; starting to give
up on himself. The folks at OneGoal saw a spark of something that was special in Caleb. Once he joined their program, he started to believe that maybe he was capable of achieving more. Expert teachers helped him focus on academics and taught him how to stick with his studies, even when it was hard.
- Former President Barack Obama, College Opportunity Summit, Dec. 4, 2014
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