Erin Fernandez keeps a goal in mind as a reengagement specialist at Colorado Youth for a Change: To advocate for students who have left school early and help them finish their degrees.
She’s in the process of reaching out to almost 300 former students to ask if they want to return to the classroom. Fernandez, who has served the west Denver area in this role since August, hopes to create an environment for youth where “they feel like they belong there,” Fernandez said. “They feel seen, heard and acknowledged.”
Colorado Youth for a Change is a Denver-based nonprofit that targets students who exited school prematurely before receiving their diplomas or GEDs. Founded in 2005, the organization supports them on their journeys to complete their education through its reengagement program.
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“There was 18,000 students dropping out of school when we first started,” said executive director Mary Zanotti. “It’s basically cut in half since we’ve started — about 9,000 young people each year are coded as having withdrawn and left before graduation.”
The first step to getting students back on campus is contacting them and their families. The nonprofit’s team sends letters, makes phone calls and visits their homes to gauge their interest.
“The need is there because there’s so many young people that don’t know that they can go back to school,” Zanotti said. “It’s really, really tricky to navigate.”
Students withdraw from school for myriad reasons. Sometimes, they’re working, supporting their siblings or raising children of their own, Zanotti said.
It’s also a problem rooted in inequities.
“We see a disproportionate amount of young males of color on that list of students that are leaving early without a diploma.” Zanotti said. “It’s a huge piece of what we as an organization hope to shift in the education system.”
The repercussions of not graduating can last a lifetime by impacting an individual’s ability to secure a higher-paying job, she added. But achieving an education can lift up generations.
“One sibling graduates, and it changes also the path for the rest of the family,” Zanotti said.
When Colorado Youth for a Change succeeds in reengagement, the nonprofit schedules school tours and explores alternative education options. The organization’s reengagement specialists stay with their assigned students through the next school year to ensure barriers don’t stand in the way of their education.
At present, the reengagement program is only available in the Denver metro area at Denver Public Schools, Englewood Schools and Aurora Public Schools.
However, Colorado Youth for a Change partners with 20 school districts statewide, with presences in northern Colorado and on the Western Slope.
Over the past decade, the nonprofit has developed intervention programming to prevent dropping out in the first place. “We try to support students before they might get to the point of disengaging completely,” Zanotti said.
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To her, every young person deserves access to education — and the resulting opportunities.
“You catch that one student at that one right time when they’re ready to make that change,” Zanotti said.
“It can be a life changing moment.”
Colorado Youth for a Change
Address: 1390 Lawrence Street #200, Denver, CO 80204
In operation since: 2005
Number of employees: 40
Number of volunteers: 60
Annual budget: $8 million
Number of clients served: Around 6,000 annually