Our Stories
Real students. Real turnarounds. One caring adult at a time.
Every story here is true, drawn from our Site Coordinators’ own reports. Names and identifying details have been changed to protect student privacy — the students are the heroes, and their privacy comes first.
Portsmouth · High School
Four Credits from the Stage
By spring of his senior year, Marcus was four credits short — a backlog of coursework and slipping attendance standing between him and walking with his class. His CISofHR Site Coordinator built a plan with him and then did the thing that mattered most: showed up beside him. For an entire week they worked side by side, clearing assignments one at a time, tracking every gain, and keeping him in the building through attendance recovery. Marcus did the work — and he walked across the stage with his cohort.
What it took was his effort. What made it possible was someone who refused to let him fall through.
Portsmouth · Waterview Elementary
A Room Where They Could Just Be
A group of elementary girls each arrived carrying something different — a rough attendance record, a short fuse, the weight of a hard year. Their Site Coordinator gave them a standing weekly space, a “Rap Session,” where they could speak honestly and learn to respond instead of react. The change came in small, steady steps: in how they spoke to each other, in showing up, in staying regulated when it was hard. By the closing ceremony, girls who once clashed shared a room in peace.
Belonging isn’t built in a day. It’s built by an adult who holds the door open every week.
Portsmouth · High School
Everything He'd Been Hiding
One graduating senior had been quietly carrying what no one could see: no support at home, no money for his cap, gown, or senior dues, no clothes for the day, and no way to even get to the ceremony. He’d hidden all of it for years. His Site Coordinator noticed, quietly pulled in two staff members, and made sure he was covered — down to a fresh haircut, a ride to graduation, and a ride home. He walked the stage. He’s still in touch today, working toward a summer job and, maybe, college.
This is the invisible backpack made real — and what it means to have someone finally see it.
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