WCCF was pleased to provide seed funding for the Lighthouse Project through one of our donor advised funds.

Article By Nancy Lofholm of the Colorado Sun

Blair Parmeter stopped going to school this winter. The 15-year-old had missed some of his freshman classes at Central High School in Grand Junction because of illness. He was also struggling with splitting time between his divorced parents’ homes. At some point, he recalls thinking: Why bother? His grades had tanked. He couldn’t see a way to catch up.

“I got further and further behind,” Blair said. “I was failing everything.”

His family physician learned of his struggles and suggested a way forward. She recommended that Blair get involved in the Lighthouse Project, a program created a year ago by the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office, in collaboration with Mesa County Valley School District 51 and Colorado Mesa University.

The program melds the district attorney’s longstanding juvenile diversion division with a new effort aimed at identifying youths at a tipping point for justice system involvement due to life circumstances. That includes teenagers like Blair who, while not justice-involved, are missing too much school—which research has shown can be an indicator of potential challenges to come.

About a quarter of high school students in Mesa County and across Colorado are considered chronically absent, meaning they miss 10% or more of school days, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

For Blair, who was missing 90% of his classes, the Lighthouse Project created a web of support and a week-by-week plan that, within three weeks, had him off the couch and away from long days of video gaming. He is back in school and has pulled most of his grades up to the passing level. He has a goal of doing well enough to qualify for STEM classes and eventually go on to higher education, with an end goal of becoming an engineer or a mechanic.

“The program kind of, like, forced me to go to school,” Blair said. “It made sure I was being productive. It made me feel like I belonged.”

 

Read the full article HERE.