Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Will Speer Found Hope Enough to Share on Texas's Death Row

    Twenty-eight death row inmates have gone through the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Rehabilitation Programs Division’s Faith-Based Program. Over a year and a half, they take classes, participate in community discussions, and attend religious services that encourage a sense of purpose, help them find inner peace with God, and inspire them to make a difference in the prison.

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  • The Solution To Unused Church Space Might Be Toddlers

    Smart Church Solutions specializes in church use, ensuring these large community spaces don’t go underused, particularly in rural areas. To make use of these churches, programs like We Love All God’s Children are using them to provide early childhood education. The program started in 2019 and has since opened 14 centers in churches throughout the state. The program provides school supplies, playground equipment and also trains professional staff to administer the curriculum.

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  • For A Small Rural Texas Town, the Solution to a Teacher Shortage Is a Motel

    The Fort Stockton Independent School District in Texas is attracting qualified teachers with high pay and cheap rent at school-owned housing.

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  • Amid Spike in Teen Drinking During Pandemic, Schools Turn to Alateen For Help

    Alateen is designed for young people living people abusing substances, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the teens the group serves have begun using alcohol and drugs themselves. To make it easier for youth to access the program, some schools are incorporating Alateen programs at school for students to easily participate.

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  • Remembering How to Be Friends: Amid COVID Isolation, One School is Using Talking Circles to Help Kids Reconnect

    At one Texas high school, members of Students Organizing for Anti-Racism (SOAR) facilitate and participate in talking circles to address conflict, provide mental health support, rebuild relationships, and redevelop social skills they lost during the pandemic. The circles draw on Indigenous traditions to offer a safe, structured space for expression that focuses on addressing harm rather than administering punishment.

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  • A Cry for Help from Teen Boys in Austin is Answered

    The mentoring program Project MALES helps young Black and Latino men normalize talking to peers about their feelings and struggles in an effort to tackle the teen mental health crisis.

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  • Laying out food pantries like grocery stores gives choice and can lead to healthy habits

    At Aunt Bette's Community Pantry in Dallas, people receiving donated food are treated with dignity and given choices that can have both psychological and nutritional benefits. A client-choice food pantry mimics a grocery store, except at this one people shop by appointment to fill their free, biweekly allotment. Volunteers help shoppers with health advice and also track inventory, so that unpopular items get discontinued. When people aren't handed a box with a take-it-or-leave-it selection, they waste less food and end up opting for healthier choices (with some helpful but not overbearing nudges).

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  • In San Antonio, teachers hit the streets in search of students disappearing from online learning

    Middle school teachers in San Antonio, Texas, have resorted to home visits and "nudging," meaning they leave notices for parents at the door with information about consequences, at the first sign of students disengaging from classes or schoolwork. Two teachers go door-to-door to interact with students, and their parents or guardians, to find out why students are not logging on to their remote classes or completing their homework. They also help deliver groceries, or other essential supplies depending on the student's need. The approach has paid off and the teacher has averaged 99% attendance in class.

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  • 200 Schools, Universal Weekly COVID Screening: How ‘Assurance Testing' Has Kept Thousands of Texas Students in Classrooms

    Determined to keep San Antonio schools open, the newly created nonprofit Community Labs is running an assurance testing operation at a size and scale unique in the country. Used with other mitigation strategies, assurance testing actually does make schools safer, said Community Labs President Sal Webber.

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  • How Texas Teachers Are Prioritizing Basic Skills as Instruction Time Gets Crunched During the Pandemic

    To counteract learning loss imposed by the pandemic, San Antonio teachers are focusing on the most essential skills- reading and math for kindergartners through second graders. By prioritizing a specific set of skills like phonetics and arithmetic, they anticipate students will stay on track with their grade level. “We knew we had to prioritize in order to stay on grade level.” Based on their own yearly assessments, it seems the strategy is working.

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