What This Money Means

In the last three weeks, Reach has received a number of significant gifts:

$5,000 from the Luther I. Replogle Foundation on November 10th.

$5,000 from the CityBridge Foundation on November 11th.

$65,000, over two years, from the Snave Foundation on November 19th.

$20,000 from Monica & David Dixon on November 27th.

$1,000 from the NEA Foundation on November 28th.

We celebrate these strong statements of support, and we look forward to using these funds to serve students in DC. But, what do these donations really mean?

These gifts satisfy our fundraising needs for the current fiscal year, which runs through June 30, 2011. Seven months before the start of the next fiscal year, we can begin aggressively planning for expansion. This means:

• We can confidently begin exploring expansion sites for the 2011-2012 academic year.
• We can begin planning for the addition of a second full-time staff member in the summer of 2011.
• We can be certain of our ability to pay all tutors and teachers for the remainder of the current academic year.
• We can transfer some of our funds to interest-bearing accounts, allowing our money to make money.

More important than any other factor, our early fundraising success allows the organization to focus on the most important part of our work: the program. With the impressive support secured through foundations, corporations, and individuals, we can focus entirely on creating the city's best literacy program.

We are immensely grateful for this early support, and we look forward to using this financial security to effectively plan for future success.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Nothing Can Stop Them

When working in education, we often hear talk about "social factors." Poverty, crime, and family stress are often part of the discussion. Those of us that work in the reform field have the privilege of being able to speak about such issues with an academic distance - it is not our reality. Occasionally, however, these issues step forward in a way that demands our attention in a very real way and forces us to recognize the reality of our students' existence.

There is a short walk between Hyde Leadership and the New York Avenue Metro Station. Usually, I make that walk each day, lagging behind groups of students so the contagious "uncoolness" of a teacher doesn't infect them. One day last week, a meeting took me away from my usual routine. On that day, two of Reach's tutors were attacked. While injuries were minimal, it is a too real reminder of the challenges faced every day by our students.

Always one to highlight the strength of our students, I feel the need to share what happened the next day. Both students arrived to work, as scheduled. Chynna, a tutor with perfect attendance, walked in with her hand wrapped. Before leaving for a doctor's appointment, she wanted to tell me, and her student, that she would be missing the day's tutoring session. I tried to suppress a smile when I found out that Chynna hurt her hand not by falling when attacked, but rather because she had hit her assailant with such force. Jayson, the original target of the attack went on as though nothing had happened. With one eye swollen shut, Jayson instructed his student as he does every Tuesday and Thursday.

After the session, I spoke with Jayson about the event. I offered to give him a ride, assuming he might be rattled by the week's events. As we left the building, I realized my offer was unnecessary. No fewer than five of Jayson's peers were waiting outside, willing to walk with him to the New York Avenue Metro. Having heard what happened, Jayson's peers refused to let him walk alone.

Their challenges are real. Their strength inspiring.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Small Victories

Running a nonprofit organization is exhausting. The repetitive nature of teaching is also exhausting - finishing one lesson only means you must start another. Neither offers a finish line. The combination sometimes leaves me feeling quite drained. During those times, small victories really give me the energy to move forward and continue building. In the last two weeks, we have had several of those victories.

As some of you may have read, we received two $5,000 grants last week. Despite the tough choices faced by funders, the Luther I. Replogle Foundation and the CityBridge Foundation both felt that Reach's work was worth supporting. Due to the economy, I have been told on many occasions that we would not receive any early foundation funding. I'm so proud that our work is standing out in a crowded nonprofit world. Like its students, Reach loves proving people wrong.

Many of you met Brandon when he was profiled in our last blog entry. On Tuesday, he hung back, asking if he could speak with me. Looking upset, he stated his desire to join the wrestling team, but he was clearly torn due to the commitment he made to his students. I offered to contact the wrestling coach to negotiate a way Brandon could be involved in both programs. Brandon left, seemingly still struggling. I was immensely proud the next day when Brandon came back in smiling. "I'm not going to wrestle this year," he said, "I have three more years. This year, I made a commitment to my students, and it's not fair to leave them." What maturity!

Finally, I received an incredibly special e-mail this morning from my friend Luke, a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Education:

So, I'm working with these three young men - one is a Junior in high school, one a Sophomore, and one a sixth grader. The Junior is working on intense Physics, the Sophomore has no homework and is watching TV, and the sixth grader has a reading assignment about The Scientific Method. The sophomore struggles with reading and has attended schools that have their own struggles (hence the lack of homework...). So, I'm trying to work with the Junior and 6th grader at the same time, when I think, "what would mark hecker do?" So, I employ the Sophomore in the task of teaching his brother how to comprehend what was a pretty difficult text for both of them. Before an hour had passed, he was asking his brother the exact questions I would have asked. Both of them learned a ton about The Scientific Method, reading for comprehension, and themselves as competent individuals and members of a family!

That e-mail made my day. It's the little things...

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Meet Our Tutor: Brandon

"They're screaming my name!"

These are the first words out of Brandon's mouth when he enters the room. A very personable young man, many of our elementary school students shout Brandon's name when he enters the room. He makes them all feel that he's excited to see them, and they feed his ego - mutualism at its best.

Brandon is the only tutor we have that is assigned to work with two elementary school students, Larry and Darius. Brandon is a natural leader, and he thrives on the additional responsibility he's been given. He really enjoys sharing the moments when his students truly demonstrate their knowledge.

Brandon's students force him to look at himself differently. Like him, his students are born leaders. Whether they're behaving appropriately or inappropriately, other students follow. Brandon grows frustrated, at times, but realizes quickly an important reality: they're just like him.

Recently, I provided the tutors with first quarter progress reports. In Brandon's, I mentioned that he could use his leadership abilities to become a fantastic business executive. Today, Brandon was having a bad day. He came in with too much energy, and he was really struggling to focus on the day's task. When I pulled him aside, he stopped me. Quoting the progress report, he said, "I have the ability to be a great leader, but sometimes I lead in the wrong direction." He stopped, apologized, then sat down and got back to work...at least for a few moments.

Baby steps.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Big Decisions

We have been incredibly lucky in our first year and a half of existence. While so many nonprofit organizations are struggling to confront this challenging economy, we have built a strong foundation of financial support that allows us to focus on our important work. We have built a relationship with Hyde Leadership and 45 of the school's wonderful students. And, recently, we have been approved by District of Columbia Schools to provide after-school services in public schools, starting in the fall of 2011. While I'm pleased with each of these developments, there is no time to rest - we have some big decisions ahead of us!

Of all the tasks that have fallen on my shoulders since Reach's founding, I have found none more intimidating than creating growth projections. Planning expansion seems to involve so much guessing - and so many big numbers! On some of the larger principles, we know our approach. For example, our interest is in developing a strong program in DC before we consider other markets. Our stage one growth plan is local, not national. But, we're left with many questions: How many schools? How many kids? How many dollars?

The time for thinking is over. We must now make decisions. For Reach, that means determining the target number of schools for next year. We will remain at Hyde Leadership, and we will aim to begin training cohorts of tutors at either one or two additional sites. One or two? It doesn't seem like a huge decision, but it represents a difference of $100,000 or more. In this economy, what size program can we effectively support?

With some big funding news expected this week - and a meeting of our Board of Directors on Tuesday - these decisions will be made shortly. It's worth noting that we're discussing the aggressiveness of our growth strategy while others are being forced to contract. We're very proud to have created such a strong foundation in only 18 months. Thank you for all you have done in getting us to this place. We look forward to making you all proud with our continued growth.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Some More Pics

Setting Limits on Setting Limits

When training our tutors, we discussed appropriate limit setting. We also made it very clear that corporal punishment was entirely unacceptable. But, in recent weeks, this issue has really become an important focus of my thinking. Let me be clear - none of our tutors have used corporal punishment. We haven't had any such issues to this point. But, the relationships are becoming more complex.

As we know, student test boundaries as they become familiar with new people. As the initial excitement about working with "big kids" wears off, our students are realizing that the tutors are holding high expectations and making their students do challenging work. This, naturally, leads to some push back from the students.

For the first time, our tutors are dealing with whining and temper tantrums. I'm noticing, clearly, that our tutors are struggling to handle these behaviors. They fall back to what's most comfortable for them - in some cases, yelling and threats. Our supervising teachers step in quickly in these situations, but it presents a challenge as we move forward. How do we teach appropriate behavior management strategies without insulting the strategies used in our tutors' families? It becomes so easy for, "it's more appropriate to try..." to sound like, "your family's doing it wrong!" All educators know that discussions about parenting/punishment are inherently tricky - student tutors simply add another layer.

Moving forward, we will constantly take steps to improve our training program. I realize now that specific behavior management strategies must be taught during our pre-service training. Specifically, it seems that the program should have a series of escalating warnings and consequences that is simply administered by our tutors. This would avoid the confusing cultural dynamics currently emerging. We work hard to ensure that all of our students are safe, and we look forward to providing our students with the skills necessary to successfully deal with the challenges that elementary school students bring.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Torn Down, Built Up

I often have meetings that I know will not lead to any immediate financial support. These meetings are intended to establish a relationship and make people aware of our work. Last week, I had two such meetings with significant players in DC's funding community. The meetings were very different in tone.

Tuesday: While definitely interested in our approach to literacy remediation, the conversation in this meeting focused on the terrible state of foundation finances. It is, as you can imagine, incredibly intimidating to hear about established organizations going out of business, foundations choosing not to work with any new partners, and organizations merging to consolidate resources. That being said, our work is necessary. Even when I hear - like in this meeting - that I made the wrong decision to launch Reach in this climate, I am confident. Maybe this isn't the right time for most nonprofits to launch. We're not most nonprofits. We will survive and succeed.

Thursday: Braced for another challenging discussion, this conversation took a much more pleasant tone. While some of the questions asked by this huge name in the DC nonprofit community were challenging, the discussion was one focused on learning. One of the highlights of my time as Reach's leader occurred when she looked up from her oatmeal and said, "this is a really elegant solution" (what an awesome compliment!).

Both these meetings occurred with really intelligent women that know the DC nonprofit community exceedingly well. And, to be sure, they're both correct in their assessment of the challenges associated with being a new nonprofit in these trying economic times. However, during a recent conversation with Charles Phaneuf, Managing Director at Joe's Movement Emporium, I was reminded of a comment by a former professor of mine, Chris Stone. To paraphrase: Money is never the finite resource. Good ideas are the finite resource. Create great programs and you'll find money.

Despite the challenging economy, I think often of those that have given more to Reach than they've ever given to an organization before. While many organizations are struggling to survive, we're planning for growth. We're privileged to have your support, and we look forward to our continued growth toward the future.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark