A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dear CIS Friend,
It is official - we have another school year on the books! Our students wrapped up the year last week and our team is finishing their final days of outcomes reporting and close-out before a much-deserved summer break. Of course, some of the students who finished last week were members of the class of 2022. We are overwhelmed with joy for our CIS students who, despite big challenges, made it to the stage to receive their diplomas. This issue is in honor of them!
Be sure to read about some of those outstanding seniors in this issue, and if you feel inspired, click that donate button below so we can keep doing this work for our future graduates!
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 When our high school CIS Coordinators send us photos from their schools' graduation ceremonies, most include teary eyes, and almost always these happy tears are those of our Coordinators'. To watch a student, who they have walked alongside through the most difficult situations, cross the stage in their cap and gown to receive their diploma, does not come without big emotions. The challenges we saw for students in the past two school years did not magically disappear this school year - in fact our team reported even harder situations amongst their CIS students. That makes celebrating the accomplishment of these seniors graduates even more special and important!
We have gathered the stories and photographs of eleven 2022 graduates from Carver Academy, L.C. Bird High, and Meadowbrook High to highlight just some of the great successes! You can click on the images or here to read about each student's journey to graduation!
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SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES
Every year we award scholarships to some of our CIS seniors, who will be pursuing a post-secondary degree after high school graduation. These are students who exemplify hard work, academic excellence, and diligence. We are excited to highlight two awardees, Briana and Samara, from L.C. Bird and Meadowbrook high school respectively.
 Briana began her high school career at Bird, enrolling in in the school's Engineering Program in her sophomore year, with the hopes of one day becoming a biomedical engineer, specializing in prosthetic devices. In her junior and senior year, she was enrolled at the Technical Center and received her cosmetology license in May 2022. Despite her incredible educational successes, she still struggled with navigating some personal challenges and emotional stressors. That's where her CIS Site Coordinator came in! Ms. Talaya Oxendine provided social emotional learning tools and worked with her on how to apply her knowledge, skills, and attitude to develop a healthy identity, manage emotions, and achieve personal goals. Briana gained a strong sense of self confidence and began to really believe that she could achieve anything that she wants in life. In this process, she decided that she wants to help people in unfortunate situations by becoming an attorney, and hopefully one day help pass legislation that protects children. Briana graduated from Bird with a 4.0 GPA and will be attending Old Dominion University in the fall to major in Sociology and Pre-Law. 
One of the things that Samara appreciates most about her time at Meadowbrook High School was the opportunity to be around people of many different countries and cultures. She made friends with Punjabis, Dominicans, Nigerians, Gujurats, and Guatemalans, to name a few. She appreciated that getting to know these peers helped broaden her horizon and become a more well-rounded person. In addition to support from her CIS Site Coordinator, Ms. Cecelia Greenwood, during her time at Meadowbrook, Samara also participated in the school's IB program. She credits the IB program for helping her "become a better student, writer and learner." She especially appreciates that the program helped her form better networking skills and writing skills, which she views as fundamental in furthering her education and starting her future career. In the fall, Samara will be attending Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where she will study marketing. Her goal is to graduate from VCU debt-free, so that she is in a position to be able to give back to her community and different organizations. She looks forward to pursuing a career as a Marketing Executive after graduation.
These young ladies are true examples of academic excellence and we are immensely proud of their accomplishments. Awarding them with scholarships was a no-brainer!
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NEW YEAR, NEW SCHOOL!
Communities In Schools of Chesterfield will start serving students at Bensley Elementary School next school year! Bensley Elementary is home to roughly 650 K-12 Tigers and has long been on our radar as a school where we know our model and services can benefit the amazing students, families, and staff. We can't wait to get started!
The school is located along the the Jefferson Davis Highway Corridor and students there, in part, matriculate to Falling Creek Middle and Meadowbrook High, two of our existing schools! This means we're furthering our goals to complete feeder patterns, serving students through their K -12 journeys!
Thank you for being a part of our community of supporters, allowing us to reach more students so they can experience academic success!
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END OF YEAR CELEBRATIONS
The end of every school year is always bittersweet. Students are usually looking forward to summer fun, but will miss their teachers, mentors, and peers. School staff are ready to rest and recharge, but they too will miss their students and colleagues. There are there fore always some really great end of year moments that help celebrate the accomplishments at each school and we have a few to share!
Salem Church Middle School's 8th grade dance was a chance for these upper-classmen to have a good time together, honoring their three years in middle school together. The teens had a great time and their CIS Site Coordinator, Ms. Claiborne, loved chaperoning to share their well wishes for the students' next chapter in high school. Also, a huge shout out to all those who donated clothing and accessories to Ms. Claiborne's shopping "boutique." Students who needed items for the dance had them because of you!
We are incredibly lucky to have some amazing mentors support students in our school. One mentor, Coach B., had a fan base at Chalkley Elementary, where he mentored a group of boys. In their last session of the school year, they spent time reflecting on the year and the relationships they had built!
Field Day is a time honored, end-of-year tradition at most all schools. Ours were no exception! Whether it was a hunger hippo moon bounce, water balloon battles, or three-legged races, our students had a blast getting out in the sun for field day fun!
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It's officially summer break, which means that parents and guardians will be looking for all the fun things to do with their kids while they are out of school. As we do each year, we'll be sharing events, activities, and resources to promote opportunities for adventure and continued learning this next few months. To kick it off, below are links to several sites that are posting fun activities in and around Chesterfield - check it out and have a blast this summer!
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