When two boys didn’t show up for Plumas Avenue School, staff member Jessica Bracey reached out to their family to find out why.  “They couldn’t locate either boys’ shoes because they were floating from place to place every night,” she said.  Bracey made a “mad dash” to the store to purchase shoes in the boys’ sizes. “By the time I came back, mom and boys were in the office waiting, and the look on mom’s face was incredibly priceless,” she said. “The boys were beaming at their new shoes and mom sincerely thanked me.” Providing support and love — or even a pair of shoes — is exactly what Bracey was hired to do. Bracey is a student advocate in the Thermalito Union Elementary School District. The district started its Student Advocate program in the 2018-19 school year utilizing funding from the Learning Communities for School Success Program, a three-year competitive grant that is funded through the California Department of Education.  Each school site has a dedicated student advocate who builds positive relationships with students and families and promotes active participation, high levels of engagement, and stronger connectedness to school. Advocates live in the community and have established relationships with many of the families, which allows for a sincere and caring approach. The grant also funds an advocate coordinator who builds cohesion for the program and supports the advocates. “The thing I enjoy the most about being an advocate is knowing that what I’m doing is going to help make a difference in a child’s academic career and, ultimately, their chances for success later in life,” Bracey said. “If I’ve made that difference in just one student’s life, I’ve fulfilled my purpose. This is what the job is all about.” The program promotes student success in many different areas. Advocates greet students as they arrive at school, connect with them during recess, and often eat lunch with them. Weekly team meetings occur at all school sites with the advocates, advocate coordinator, principal, counselor, office secretary and school resource officer. These team meetings focus on a list of identified students who may be struggling with attendance, have social/emotional issues, at-risk behavior or academic challenges.  Advocate teams create innovative ways to motivate and support identified students — some programs include punch cards, golden tickets, a special lunch, dedicated time for arts and crafts, or building with LEGOs to name a few. Student advocates connect with parents and guardians through phone conversations and text messages, or when students are dropped off and picked up from school. They share community resources and build inclusive relationships with parents during multiple school events, such as pastries with parents, movie and paint nights, and back-to-school. Some advocates lead a “walking school bus,” allowing for morning conversations with parents, guardians and community members. Advocates also participate in School Accountability Review Team and School Accountability Review Board meetings with parents, offering a teamwork approach to student attendance and academic success. “Our student advocate, Wendi Ballard, is highly visible on campus. She connects with students one-on-one, in small groups, and even through school assemblies. She greets them with a smile every day, sets goals with students; she lets them know that she is happy to see them and misses them when they are absent,” said Principal Lisa Shaw at Sierra Avenue Elementary School. “She has contributed tremendously to the overall success of our improved attendance and the positive environment of our school.”  Director of Special Projects Lisa Cruikshank oversees the advocate program with monthly networking and check-in meetings, as well as organizing ongoing professional learning. Advocates have participated in workshops and received training through the Butte County Office of Education and LCSSP workshops on the Nurtured Heart Approach, Social/Emotional Learning, Attendance Works, Christian Moore’s WhyTry Resilience Breakthrough program, and Capturing Kids Hearts this coming summer.

Thermalito is reaping the benefits of having student advocate safety nets available on all school site campuses. In 2018-19, districtwide attendance significantly increased 0.54 percent, habitual truancy decreased a dramatic 6.68 percent, chronic absenteeism decreased 1.6 percent, suspension rates decreased 1.6 percent, and students feeling safe at school increased by 2 percent. School sites are celebrating record student attendance with weekly assemblies, awards certificates, ice cream, popsicles, pizza parties, and a “Walk of Fame,” as well as class and schoolwide perpetual trophies.  “Having a student advocate on campus has significantly enhanced our family engagement and school climate in positive ways,” said Poplar Avenue Elementary School Principal Bill Harrington. “Our parents feel valued when our advocate reaches out to them to be invited onto our campus rather than waiting for families to take the initiative. Students know that there is always someone on campus in addition to their teacher that they can connect with, and that makes them want to come to school more.”