At the end of 2020, Northwest Oregon Works was awarded a six-month Youth Reengagement grant through the State of Oregon Department of Education on behalf of the Youth Development Division. This project took place throughout Tillamook, Clatsop, and Columbia counties. While the short term of the grant posed a challenge to students and coaches alike, over half of the 100+ youth engaged in the program saw measurable gains toward their academic goals, with a quarter of them completing their High School or GED credentials.
Logan Garner, NOW’s Student Success Coach, stated that the most common reasons students cited for disengagement from school were credit deficiency and unspecified social and home life challenges. For himself, the most common narrative was that a lot of high schools were not equipped to keep students engaged and active in transitions to online/remote learning. He also worked with a significant number of students facing homelessness or housing insecurity.
Two success stories to come out of this program are from Ada Gutierrez and Christian Parsons. You can find Ada’s story here and Christian’s story here. Ada was also interviewed by myoregon.gov and you can find a link to her interview here.
Below, you can find our Youth Reengagement By The Numbers graph which provides a breakdown of the project in all three counties.
NOW was again awarded a Reengagement Opportunity Grant to continue the program from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2023.
