Building from a Strong Foundation

The sun is still shining in this early September heat, but the season is changing. The tell-tale sign is the chill you feel in the air. Fall is on its way, and for us at Southside Youth Outreach, this means the start of a new year filled with both new and familiar faces. Last school year was filled with lots of new people and situations. This year we are thankful to have a little more familiarity in our organization and programs. ​

RISE After School students all lined up in fall 2021

We will have both Ashley and Taylor returning as RISE After School staff this year. Not only are both Ashley and Taylor amazing women and leaders in the program, but they are also “seasoned veterans” when it comes to running the program and working with the kids.  Ashley has been working at SSYO since 2017, so this will be her 5th year with us! Taylor began her time at SSYO while we were running our childcare program in 2020, so this will be her 3rd year on staff with us! 

In the past, the average length of time working as a RISE After School staff member has been two years. This has meant that every year we have had one returning staff member and one new hire that we were training. For the first time since I have been on staff with SSYO, we have a team that from the outset that’s been around for more than two years, understands our organization's culture and procedures and knows the program and students well. This is exciting because we get to build up from a very strong foundation!

Another thing that excites me about the program this year is that we already have 18 students enrolled! In years past we’ve had only a handful of students signed up before the first day of school. Last year we started to see some traction with our highest enrollment at that time of 15 students. We topped that number this year by having 18 students enrolled before the start of school! Most of the students are returning students, but it’s exciting to see that there is a need for the care that we give and we’re only going to increase our student enrollment as the year goes on.
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The amazing growth that we’ve seen over the past couple of years has been able to happen in large part because of the support of our donors and volunteers. We have a lot of ways that we can improve and grow this year and we are looking forward to sharing and celebrating with you when we do!

Anna Jennings

​Anna is the Program Manager and RISE After School Director at SouthSide Youth Outreach. She has a Bachelors Degree in Human Development and Family Science and loves working with kids, baking, and reading.