Student Success Story: Hailey 4th Grade
Hailey is a 4th grade student at the highest poverty elementary school in the district. She was referred to the CIS Action for Success program due to high absenteeism and low academic proficiency. Upon first meeting with Hailey, her Success Coach Mr. Drew, learned that she would not speak to people outside of home, and through a series of check-ins and support planning with Hailey, they decided to work together to help her to be more confident speaking to others as this would affect her willingness to attend school regularly and impact her participation in the classroom. Her primary form of communication at school was through writing notes or nodding yes or no. This was severely impacting her ability to connect with peers and staff. It was discovered that her selective mutism began following her father’s death several years prior.
Her Success Coach created a social bingo card with different challenges to complete, that required her to talk with other students and teachers. If she completed the entire card, she would earn lunch on Friday from her restaurant of choice that her Success Coach would purchase and bring to the school for her. During their intervention time together, the Success Coach would walk with her around the school and have her approach staff and students to verbally ask them a question that was on her Bingo card. At first, she was very hesitant and only spoke in a whisper, with the Success Coach close by her side. Within a short period of time, she was willingly completing the challenges on the Bingo card and, though still speaking in a very low, almost inaudible voice, was asking more questions each time.
Within several weeks, Hailey had completed all three Bingo cards! The first week she completed 9 challenges, the second week she completed 16, and the fourth week she completed all 24 challenges on her card. Hailey even helped her Success Coach create more challenges and continued pushing herself to gain confidence.
When asked how she felt about working on the bingo cards each week she shared, “I still feel really nervous talking to people, but I’m really glad to be working on overcoming my fear of speaking with others.”
By the end of the school year, Hailey was coming to her Success Coach less often and had developed a group of friends with whom to eat lunch each day. She was quietly talking and smiling more and had clearly begun making connections with her school community. Her teachers noted a remarkable change in her in the classroom as a result of working with her CIS Success Coach. Hailey’s Mom reported to the Success Coach that Hailey often says she is so happy she moved and now attends her new elementary school because she likes everyone there and has people like her Success Coach supporting her needs.
Her Success Coach learned prior to the end of the school year of some interpersonal and financial challenges the family was facing. He picks up the free summer lunches from Brunswick County Schools nutrition program every day and delivers them to the family for Hailey and her four siblings, so the family’s lack of transportation does not lead them to being food insecure over the summer break. Meeting the specific needs of individual students and families is at the core of the work of CIS. It takes a holistic approach to ensure students can be successful and overcome the barriers they face.
CIS looks forward to continuing to work with Hailey when school resumes in August and supporting her success! Now that Hailey is feeling more confident a continued focus on reinforcing the communication and social skills she learned this year and providing tutoring to help her maintain her academic skills will be an ongoing focus. Continuing to identify and connect resources to ensure the family’s basic needs are met will also be part of her Success Coach’s intervention.
