Dear Friends,
Here we are, nearing the end of another year. I want to begin by saying how immensely proud I am of our students: 12 women this year earned high school equivalency degrees, 16 women graduated from Bard Microcollege Holyoke, 2 of our graduates earned bachelor’s degrees from Smith and Mount Holyoke, and dozens more earned college credit. I want to congratulate our students and thank our staff for supporting these talented women.
Difficult Questions
This year has not been without hurdles. We have been wrestling with some difficult questions across all of our programs but particularly in our high school-level program for young mothers. How do we create an environment that is safe but also inspiring and fun? How do we help students attend class consistently when much of their life has been unpredictable? How do we help students overcome deeply ingrained negative associations with school and their own potential?
What we know is that once students find the “spark” they become more resilient as inevitable challenges occur. For some students, the spark is ignited through art or poetry, for others in rowing, and for many in the college classroom. As young mothers are exposed to college-level work, they gain new perspectives and often become more likely to persist despite setbacks.
Igniting the Spark
To help ignite the spark for more of our youngest students, we will be expanding our partnership with Greenfield Community College. In the year ahead, a new series of college courses will offer young mothers continuous opportunities to engage in college work. The three-credit courses will be designed for HiSET (GED) students and open to young parents and low-income women from the community. By offering these shorter courses year-round, students will be able to “jump in” to college at any moment—when life’s challenges subside or when inspiration strikes. Students will build relationships with college professors as well as with other women focused on their education.
Our goal is that the additional courses will help young mothers gain momentum along the path to a college degree. The credits will be transferable Bard Microcollege Holyoke, our in-house associates degree program.
Support this Work
With Giving Tuesday around the corner, I hope you will consider supporting this work. Your generosity this holiday season will help ignite the spark for our most vulnerable students.
We are immensely grateful to you, our community, for lifting up young mothers and their children. Wishing you and your family a safe and peaceful Thanksgiving.
Anne Teschner
Executive Director
