SSKC Grants $97,000 To 20/20 Leadership, Provides Leadership Opportunities for KCMO Youth

New partnership will allow existing program to expand to younger students, more schools.

SchoolSmartKC today announced a new grant and partnership with 20/20 Leadership. This grant will allow the 20/20 Leadership Program to expand into two new schools, and also extend the program to all grades at the high school level.

“We have spent a lot of time working closely with our schools,” Juan Rangel, SchoolSmartKC’s Director of Family Engagement says, “and we see that students participating in extracurricular programs like 20/20 Leadership are more likely to graduate, and more likely to attend college or enter the workforce with the skills they need to succeed. Expanding this program within our community is essential work for reducing the achievement and opportunity gaps that exist in our schools.”

The 20/20 Leadership Program was first established in Kansas City in 1993 and has served over 4,500 students from Kansas City Public Schools and local Charter schools, as well as other local school districts. The program allows students at the high school level to enter experience-based leadership training, focusing on three core areas of Workforce Development, Community Engagement, and Career and College Preparation. The funding from SchoolSmartKC will support the long-term goals of the program, as well as allow for increased enrollment:

“This funding from SSKC will not only increase our capacity to respond to student needs during these unprecedented times but will also allow us to position ourselves to have a greater impact on Kansas City, Missouri students in the future.” Marnie Morgan, Executive Director of 20/20 Leadership says, “Due to our local partners and strong track record, we believe 20/20 Leadership is uniquely positioned to expand and diversify its student base, and this new funding will allow us to grow strategically and sustainably to support KC students in the long-term.”

Funding from this grant will be released this week, with an additional 300 Missouri students expected to be served by 20/20 Leadership in the next 12 months.

Kim, a long-standing partner, brought this challenge to a nascent effort led by SchoolSmartKC to develop a new Special Education Collaborative group that could assist in the design and execution of programs for students with disabilities in Kansas City. Members of the collaborative, a multi-stakeholder group including the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Social Work, were keen to help with developing, deploying, and analyzing a survey to specifically identify the needs of families with special needs students during the COVID-era.

“What’s great about the initiation of this Special Education Collaborative is the breadth of intellectual resources we have available within the group,” Samara Crawford Herrera, Director of Community Partnerships at SchoolSmartKC says “We have representation from parents, the school district, charter schools, colleges, local philanthropies – all working together to problem solve in real time. This group knows that special education students must have programs available to them that are developed specifically for their needs, and work together to ensure that happens.”

Following conversations about the right approach to this weighty task, the “State of Special Education in KCPS and Charter Schools During COVID-19” survey was developed. The survey will deploy in October, and use the results to directly inform programming through The Transition Academy for special education students in 2021. To help aggregate and analyze the data, a graduate student from UMKC will be undertaking this task as part of a research project. Also, a representative from Children’s Mercy is leading focus groups with teachers and families to provide further clarity on their experiences and needs.

The projected outcome from this survey is simple: through the careful development and analysis of this survey, students in Kansas City will have access to specialized, data-informed programs that meet the needs that families are reporting.

“We know there is a need out there,” Crawford Herrera explains, “it could be care, technology, learning outcomes. We have to be laser-focused and make sure we are really listening to families and students. That’s what the Special Education Collaborative is committed to doing. At the end of the day, we are here to meet the needs of these kids.”