Stephen’s Story

Stephen was a new student in school.
He was a 5th grader whose family moved to town just before the start of the new school year.

As an elementary school principal, students were often sent to my office if they had misbehaved in class.

Stephen was one of those students. He was having trouble adjusting, and had been sent to my office many times for causing trouble.

Stephen was what we affectionately call a “frequent flyer.”

Many of the children in my school district were not reaching their potential, including Steven. Some children were going home to empty houses.

The solution to both problems was to start an after-school program. This would meet both needs.

Stephen signed up for the after-school program. This was an opportunity for him to have some testing done to see if we could find any learning issues.

What we found was shocking…
But first, let me tell you how I came to meet Stephen.

My first career after college was in business management. But I found that teaching business owners what they needed to do to become more successful was very satisfying. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I decided to go back to school to earn two Masters Degrees.

Making a career change was a challenge. Working full time and going to school at night is no easy feat.

To top it off, my daughters were very young, and I was facing a financial crisis of my own, having just become a single mother.

Eventually, after student teaching, I had my own classroom.

On Monday morning of my first week of teaching, I entered a room full of smiling Kindergarteners. On Friday afternoon of that very same week, I went to the Principal’s office, a crying teacher!

I asked – well really, I begged – to be put in a class of older students.

You know, the kind that can tie their own shoes, don’t cry for mommy every morning, and can speak to you in complete sentences.

I landed in 5th grade – a perfect fit!

Before very long I realized that school budgets were stretched too thin.
If I was going to make the dreams I had for my students a reality, I was going to have to depend on my financial knowledge and skills.

In my third year of teaching, I asked my principal if he would fund a program that had been proven successful in helping students become better writers very quickly.

The results would be amazing. It cost $1000.

He said to me, “Maureen, our budget is already spent for the school year. I am sorry, but I can’t.”

“Then is it alright if I apply for a grant to fund the program? I know of several sources of funding, and would like to give it a try,” I responded.

He said to go for it and wished me luck.

No teacher had tried this before, so he was curious to see how this would work.

There were some hiccups along the way, but a few months later, the grant was awarded.

You have to jump through several hoops and do lots of proposal writing to get a grant, but it’s worth the effort.

While I was a classroom teacher, I received grants ranging in amounts from $1000 to $5000. These grants funded several technology and writing projects in my classroom.

But there were more grants in my future. And one which would change a life…

As a teacher, I was faced with solving problems for individual students.

Later in my career as a Principal, the problems that needed to be solved were those of the entire school, not just one student or one classroom.

Starting an after-school program was a huge undertaking. I had several needs to address, and it seemed like a good solution.

This was a big dream, which meant we needed BIG MONEY.

Once again, I was told “No!”

Once again, that didn’t stop me!

I applied for and was awarded annual grants from JC Penney in the amount of $20,000 per year to run the after-school program.

It was open to all children in grades K-5 and included a snack, homework help and tutoring.

Though the after-school program was started to fill a need for many students, it ended up being life-altering for Stephen.

When Stephen signed up for the after-school program, it was an opportunity to test his reading and math levels.

Maybe we could figure out why he was acting out in class.

We tested Stephen, and waited for the scores to come back.

Stephen’s scores were shocking!

He was able to do 8th grade math, and he could read at the 10th grade level!

No wonder he acted out in class… he was bored to tears!

Stephen’s parents were so grateful to learn of the test results. They had no idea that their son was so bright!

When his parents came to meet with me about the test results, they were told that Stephen would be going to the 8th grade classroom for math. For his advanced reading program, he would have individualized instruction at the high school level.

This story has a happy ending. Stephen became a model student and a classroom leader.

When he graduated 8th grade and left the building to go to high school, he frequently visited me to let me know how he was doing. He continued to be successful in high school.

Every problem has a solution. Don’t let it stop you from reaching your goals. Let me help you find your solution!