Spokane students find a lifeline in CISSC

As a shy fourth-grader, Jadyn Dane remembers her first meeting with a Communities in Schools of Spokane County (CISSC) mentor.

“I was feeling bad for myself and didn’t like it,” Dane says. “But [my mentor] kept encouraging me to keep going.”

Nine years later, she doesn’t know where she’d be without CISSC. Dane, now 18, lives on her own after leaving the foster system, and works full time after school. She graduates from Medical Lake High School this month and will attend Western Washington University virtually in the fall.

Dane’s story isn’t uncommon across Spokane County. When CISSC formed in 2007, the county had a 66 percent graduation rate.

As part of the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization, CISSC supports students from all backgrounds in achieving academic, behavioral and attendance success, says Debra Raub, CISSC executive director.

CISSC has site coordinators embedded within 22 schools. Ninety-six percent of their students live in poverty and many face homelessness, Raub says.

Located primarily in lower-income communities, each CISSC site is equipped with food pantries, clothing closets, and hygiene and school supplies. Resources are available to anyone, no questions asked, Raub says. Site coordinators also meet one-on-one with students and provide safe spaces for groups to gather.

More than a mentor

Dane remembers fourth grade being an especially hard year.

“It was just me and my mom during this time, and she turned to drugs, so I was kind of alone,” she says. “[My mentor] was kind of the only one I had.”

School wasn’t a priority for Dane’s family, but for her it was an escape. At school she didn’t have to deal with her home life — and she was surrounded by people who cared about her, she explains.

“I don’t know where I’d be in life without [them]. CISSC saved my life a few times and helped me get out of an unsafe home.”

The first few meetings with her mentor focused on tutoring, but over time they began talking about life and formed a close friendship.

Dane participated in after-school programs through middle school. In high school, she started tutoring others.

“I saw people struggling around me, so I wanted to help them,” she says. “I know what it was like to need help and I wanted to do the same for them.”

In an environment where failure was normal, Raub describes Dane as a leader who encouraged those around her. Dane’s resiliency shined despite the challenges she and many other students face at home.

Relationships make change, not programs

For Danielle Thompson, site coordinator at Hallett Elementary School, that resiliency is something she admires most about her students.

“Every day is a new day for them,” she says. “Even if it’s a harder day or there’s tantrums, they come back the next day refreshed.”

Thompson starts her days with the school counselor — greeting kids as they arrive, catching up on who’s having a hard day and handing out attendance rewards. Later, she breaks into group and one-on-one sessions, including a first-grade boys’ lunch group and a writing support group.

“The groups are huge,” she says. “Sometimes the friendship piece is hard at that age … and it’s so funny because you think ‘It’s just fourth-grade girl drama, how big can the problem be?’ But being heard is so important, and doing so in a safe manner.”

The groups do a lot of social emotional work, focusing on things like social skills, building friendships and knowing what’s appropriate on the playground or at the lunch table. Thompson also works with students on confidence.

“The reaction from students when they become comfortable enough to share or come out of their shell is great,” she says. “I had a kid super scared to go to the dentist. We worked out a game plan, they made it and were so excited to come tell me.”

Students with challenging home lives are likely to bring those emotions to school, explains executive director Raub. Whether behavioral issues, poor academic performance and/or attendance, or in ways staff may not see, she hopes CISSC coordinators are a safe adult for students to open up to.

Building blocks for success

People generally assume all kids show up to school fed and clothed properly, but that’s not the reality in some lower-income communities, Raub says. CISSC sometimes sees students in clothes inappropriate to the season, with worn-out shoes held together with duct tape.

CISSC ensures all resources are free and available at the school. Once basic needs are met, they can focus on developing habits for long-term academic success.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit young students hard, especially in areas like attention span, attendance and mental health.

“Our kids were struggling before COVID, and once we realized they were going to be home and isolated for a long time, we knew there would be a huge need when they got back,” Raub says. “Being engaged in school, learning and playing with friends is part of a healthy lifestyle.”

Incentives have proved a useful tool in elementary school. Some respond well to attendance sticker charts, while others are motivated by earning a few extra minutes at recess or lunch with their favorite teacher, site coordinator Thompson says.

“It’s important to start that habit young for attendance because it’s so easy to slip through the cracks,” she says. “Kids thrive off routine.”

While CISSC can be a resource for many things, they can’t do it all. Some students experience homelessness and/or abuse, witness domestic violence or have parents in jail, Raub explains. For those cases, CISSC refers students to outside resources and behavioral health services.

We all need help sometimes

“There’s nothing unique about Spokane’s poverty issues,” Raub says. “This is a human issue, and it exists everywhere. You have to get involved to know what’s going on. You have to care about others.”

As Dane prepares for the next step in her life, she often thinks back to a lesson from her mentor: “You can’t look back at yesterday — you can only look forward.”

She’s planning to study business and culinary arts at WWU with goals of someday opening her own bakery. The one way she does look back, though, is to thank her mentor and the CISSC team.

“I don’t know where I’d be in life without [them],” she says. “CISSC saved my life a few times and helped me get out of an unsafe home.”

She encourages students still struggling to reach out to CISSC. We all need support sometimes, she says.

“Partnering for healing and a healthy future” is MultiCare’s mission, and it inspires us to form connections that help improve the quality of life for our communities. Community organizations all around us are doing amazing work, and we’re inspired and excited to support that work.

Stories from our Community is an ongoing series conceived to dive into some of these organizations*, bring their stories to life and spread the word about how they are making our communities better.

*Some of the organizations profiled in this series are recipients of MultiCare’s Community Partnership Fund, which awards funds to nonprofit organizations working on initiatives, programs and projects that improve our community.